{"id":2006,"date":"2008-05-01T03:04:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-01T03:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=2006"},"modified":"2018-11-20T05:28:55","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T05:28:55","slug":"pen-name-post-scrip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=2006","title":{"rendered":"Pen Name Post Script"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After all that talk below about pen names, I couldn&#8217;t help thinking of a wonderful tradition of pen names dating back to&#8230;well, at least the Victorian era, when it was reinvented: the Welsh tradition of the Eisteddfod (history <a href=\"http:\/\/gwybodiadur.tripod.com\/eisteddfod\/eisteddfod.htm\">here<\/a>). This annual event&#8211;which would have made the perfect subject for a National Poetry Month post, if I hadn&#8217;t been god-awfully busy&#8211;allegedly dates back to at least the Renaissance if not the Middle Ages. Traditionally, an Eisteddfod was a literary competition for bards. Today, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eisteddfod.org.uk\/\">National Eisteddfod<\/a> is much more of an inclusive event, with musical performances, choir and literary competitions, displays of local artwork, numerous booths offering wares for sale&#8230;but the highlight is still the Chairing of the Bard&#8211;the winner of the competition for strict-meter poetry. The competitors submit their entries under a pen name, and when the winner is selected, their pen name is announced to the crowd and the winner stands up and reveals him- or herself. They receive a full-sized, artisan-carved wooden chair as a prize, awarded by the Gorsedd of Bards. Similarly, a Crowning takes place for the winner of the free-verse competition. <\/p>\n<p><a onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_AS3Nr1ChgcU\/SBk3ckk1vcI\/AAAAAAAAAYM\/Wczuq7MR0EY\/s1600-h\/eisteddfod06.JPG\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;\" src=\"https:\/\/writingya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/eisteddfod06.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5195244609142635970\" \/><\/a>This picture shows an American version of the Eisteddfod, with the Gorsedd of Bards (aka the teaching staff in bedsheets) of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.madog.org\">Cymdeithas Madog<\/a>&#8216;s annual Welsh language course marching out into the crowd. The prize there is a miniature version of a real Eisteddfod chair which the winner gets to take home for a year; winning names are engraved onto a plaque on the back side. I had the honor (and surprise) of winning the mini-Eisteddfod one year for a short story I wrote in Welsh (you can read the translation <a href=\"http:\/\/www.madog.org\/dysgwyr\/barddoniaeth\/daugymydog.html\">here<\/a>, as well as view my pen name). I still find it strange that I can win a major prize for writing something not in my first language&#8211;in fact, in a language I&#8217;m arguably still struggling with&#8211;but I feel like I can&#8217;t get very far writing in my first language&#8230;oh well. I still have a piece out there with an agent looking at it, so my fingers are crossed. <\/p>\n<p>More about the Eisteddfod on Poetry Friday&#8211;I&#8217;ll feature a Welsh poet and winner of the BIG Eisteddfod!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After all that talk below about pen names, I couldn&#8217;t help thinking of a wonderful tradition of pen names dating back to&#8230;well, at least&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,15,10],"class_list":["post-2006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-af","tag-random-notes-and-errata","tag-views"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4882,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2006\/revisions\/4882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}