Brenda Chamberlain

the long version

Brenda Chamberlain, artist, poet and writer, lived a remarkable and eventful life. Her poetry developed alongside that of Dylan Thomas and others of the 'Welsh school'. Born in Bangor in 1912, Chamberlain studied at the Royal Academy but gave up painting temporarily for poetry during the Second World War, while she was living at Llanllechid in Caernarfonshire. Her collection The Green Heart (1958) reflects on this period and on her lifelong relationship with a German friend, Karl von Laer. In 1962 she published her most important prose work, Tide-Race, an evocation of life on the island of Bardsey. Her only novel, The Water Castle (1964), draws on her experiences in post-war Germany. A Rope of Vines (1965) describes her life on the Greek island of Ydra which she made her home in 1963. Poems with Drawings (1969) was published after her return to Bangor. This work offers a detailed analysis of Brenda Chamberlain's poems and prose. It draws on the strong recollections of many friends to sketch a portrait of this complex, sensitive and imaginative Welsh writer and artist.