Dorothy Bonarjee: Bard of Aberystwyth

From Planet 238

by Andrew Whitehead

Andrew Whitehead relates the story of a now-forgotten figure in Welsh literary life during the First World War – a young woman from India who achieved acclaim in Wales while also experiencing racism and a broken heart.

‘Hindu Lady Chaired’, ran the headline in The Cambria Daily Leader. The event was the Eisteddfod at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth in February 1914. A nineteen-year-old Indian student caused a sensation when she was awarded the bardic chair.

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