Shamed former BBC presenter Huw Edwards faced backlash after taking part in a poetry contest at this year’s National Eisteddfod.

Edwards submitted his work under the pen name Gelyn, which translates as Enemy, and described the piece as a personal homage to his deceased father.

On his Substack platform, he explained that the composition drew from one of the principal themes designated for the 2026 National Eisteddfod of Wales: the concept of Adnabod, meaning Knowing.

He stated the poem was fundamentally an homage to his late father, Hywel Teifi Edwards, who was recognised as the leading Eisteddfod historian and an expert on the cultural landscape of Victorian Wales.

All submissions in the contest are registered under assumed names to allow judges to evaluate the work without awareness of the author’s identity.

Last year, Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of creating indecent images of children after receiving 41 child sexual abuse materials from a convicted paedophile via WhatsApp between late 2020 and mid-2021.

Among these were seven Category A images, the most severe classification, 12 Category B images and 22 Category C images.

The court imposed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years, alongside a requirement to remain on the sex offenders register for seven years.

During sentencing, the judge observed that his long-established reputation had been left in ruins.

His participation in the Crown poetry competition provoked strong reactions, including from actress Sera Cracroft, most recognised for her part in the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm, who herself experienced childhood sexual abuse.

She voiced alarm at the prospect of Edwards being crowned before the Welsh nation so shortly after his conviction for online child sexual crime.

Historian and writer Sue Crampton remarked that entering poetry in a public contest suggested a desire for public validation, suggesting he should instead write privately.

Edwards responded through a statement to Newyddion S4C, maintaining the poem honoured his father and nothing more. He emphasised he never anticipated winning the contest and believed the negative narrative promoted by the press two years earlier required correction.

He also directed criticism toward certain detractors, describing them as sanctimonious Welsh speakers who seize every opportunity to comment thoughtlessly on every topic, specifically mentioning Sera among them.