THE career of a Tanygrisiau poet will be celebrated in an upcoming television show.

The life of Gwyn Thomas, an academic, writer, expert on Welsh myths and legends, screenwriter and profilic author, will be celebrated on St David’s Day.

The S4C programme, Gwyn Thomas: Gwr Geiriau, will show how Mr Thomas’ career has contributed so profoundly to Welsh culture.

The 79-year-old said: “It is everyday things which inspire my poetry; things I see on the street, TV programmes, people in general, and different places.

“In Gwyn Thomas: Gwr Geiriau we’ll look into a variety of things that interest me, but it’s not autobiographical.

“We’ll look again at some of my work. I return to Blaenau quite regularly, but the town has changed quite a lot since I lived there. I hear more English spoken nowadays, but saying that, it’s still a Welsh language heartland. People like Gai Toms keep the language alive in the town."

During its time, his academic work, as well as his poetry, was ground-breaking and Me Thomas admits that they complement each other.

He added: “Being imaginative is vital in any research. Take the Mabiniogion, it’s full of imagination.”

The programme will be shown on S4C on Tuesday, 1 March, at 9.30pm.

See this week’s north editions for the full story, in shops now or online by clicking the Digital Editions tab at the top of the page