John Rowlands was a Welsh language author of several novels including Lle bo"r gwenyn, and a Professor of Welsh literature.
Education
Born in Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, Rowlands graduated in Welsh from Bangor University in 1959 and went on to lecture at Abertawe/Swansea, Coleg y Drindod, Caerfyrddin, Llanbedr Pont Steffan and Aberystwyth.
Career
He retired in 2003 but remained active as an editor, critic and judge. In retirement he worked on creative writing courses at Bangor. His academic work included editing a major literary series Y Meddwl a"r Dychymyg Cymreig and numerous volumes and papers.
He was one of the most prolific judges in the Eisteddfod literary competitions and was probably the foremost critic in Welsh on Welsh.
He also contributed a regular column to the magazine Barn and was a wine and restaurant critic.
