Matha Mull Davies grew up in Malibu in the ‘50s and now is going on to receive the prestigious honor of induction into the Gorsedd of the Bards (Green Robe) at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire Wales in early August. Davies has spent her life translating Welsh American writings, including four 19th century books about Welsh settlements in America.
An excerpt from the Gorsedd page of the National Eisteddfod website, reads:
“Martha Davies, Lincoln, Nebraska, may be from the USA, but her Welshness is a strong personal trait, and she has been active in the North American Welsh community for many years. She came to live in Wales for four years and learned Welsh at Aberystwyth before returning to the USA.”
“Growing up as a Malibu girl, I never imagined such a thing,” Davies said in a written statement. “This Gorsedd honor comes 54 years since leaving California and 40 years after I began learning Welsh in Wales … My true passion remains translating the stories of Welsh-American settlers who wrote about their experiences in their language-of-the-heart — Welsh.”
She, her husband and their colleagues continue to build up Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project, a project with scholarly materials that “rival the largest collections.”