Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales West, Bethan Jenkins, said:
Nigel Jenkins , who died today at the age of 64, was one of Wales’ s most committed and also eclectic writers. He won many prizes, including Wales book of the year in 1996. He was a dedicated member of Plaid Cymru, and regularly emailed me with his thoughts and ideas about how Plaid Cymru could be active in helping to improve the area of South Wales West, as well as his views on the aspiration for a Republican Wales for the future.
He supported our local campaign in Swansea against the closure of the Dylan Thomas bookshop, and the campaign against any possible downgrading of the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea. He was a long-term activist in CND Cymru, and members of CND Cymru have contacted me to express their sadness at his death, in recognition of his activism.
He was an editor of the influential ‘Radical Wales’ magazine, and very active in the welsh union of writers. He learnt Welsh and was a great supporter of the Welsh Language.
He will be sadly missed by all who care about literature and left-wing politics in Wales.
Plaid Cymru’s Swansea West Assembly candidate Dr Dai Lloyd said:
“Nigel Jenkins was a poet whose work enlightened the life of the whole of Wales. He had the precious gift of helping us laugh at ourselves, in both our languages – but at the same time celebrating what our nation had to offer to the world.
“Like Dylan Thomas, whose centenary we mark this year, his poetry and scholarly prose publications placed Swansea, Gower and Wales on a world-wide stage.
“I was fortunate to have known him well – our children attended the same Welsh-medium schools and our paths often crossed, both politically and culturally.
“He will be sadly missed in the Swansea area in particular, but his unique voice lives on in his inspiring poetry.”
Plaid Cymru’s Swansea West Assembly candidate Dr Dai Lloyd said:
“Nigel Jenkins was a poet whose work enlightened the life of the whole of Wales. He had the precious gift of helping us laugh at ourselves, in both our languages – but at the same time celebrating what our nation had to offer to the world.
“Like Dylan Thomas, whose centenary we mark this year, his poetry and scholarly prose publications placed Swansea, Gower and Wales on a world-wide stage.
” I was fortunate to have known him well – our children attended the same Welsh-medium schools and our paths often crossed, both politically and culturally.
“He will be sadly missed in the Swansea area in particular, but his unique voice lives on in his inspiring poetry.”
