Huw Edwards enters Welsh writing competition under pseudonym
Huw Edwards enters Welsh writing competition under pseudonym
Felix PopeTue, August 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM UTC
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Huw Edwards leaves Westminster magistrates’ court in 2024 - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Huw Edwards was allowed to enter a poetry competition at a Welsh arts festival using a pseudonym.
The disgraced former BBC presenter entered a verse composition at the National Eisteddfod, which is taking place in Cardigan, Ceredigion, this week.
Edwards was handed a suspended prison sentence in 2024 after pleading guilty to receiving and making indecent images of children.
Some of those images were Category A – the most serious – and involved a child aged between seven and nine.
After his conviction, Edwards’ membership of the Eisteddfod was terminated following a vote by its committee.
This year, however, he entered the organisation’s literary competition under the Welsh pseudonym Y Gelyn, which translates to “the enemy”.
Sera Cracroft, an actress in the Welsh-language TV soap Pobol y Cwm, who was sexually assaulted as a child, said Edwards’ decision to take part in the event was “shocking”.
She said: “Huw has said he’s been getting mental health treatment, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t think it’s working for him.
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“To those children who are in those images, it lasts forever. They have a life sentence.
“Abuse moves quickly to something digital very quickly, and I don’t think Huw realises how horrific the fact he’s attempted to win the crown really is. Had he won, the image of him getting crowned in front of the country would’ve hurt a lot of survivors.
“There would be a way that, if he was more unpretentious, he could’ve tried to help in some way or help teach more about the crimes he’s been found guilty of.”
Edwards said his entry was a tribute to his father and that he had never expected to win.
He was, he claimed, trying to correct a “poisonous narrative” promoted about him by the media.
Edwards added: “It wasn’t a piece for the nauseating, self-righteous Welsh-speaking population – including Sera – who take advantage of any opportunity to mouth off without thinking on any subject under the sun.
“She and her like are far too ready to ignore the damaging effects of mental health. In this respect, they adhere to the traditions of London’s tabloids.”
The competition was won by Martin Huws, who wrote a piece about a boy who was abused at a school in South Wales.
An Eisteddfod spokesman said: “We have a process to make sure nobody, including the judges, know beforehand who is competing. After each Eisteddfod we have a period of reflection to ensure the processes are still relevant. This year will be no different.”
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
