Gwen John Medal 2026: Professor Kirsti Bohata

The Learned Society of Wales’s inaugural Gwen John Medal for Arts and Humanities has gone to Professor Kirsti Bohata for her advocacy work on behalf of the arts and humanities, as well as her reputation within literary studies. 

The award of the Gwen John medal to Professor Bohata recognises not simply her own outstanding research, but also her role as a passionate advocate for the importance to Welsh society of the arts and humanities. 

This is seen in the leading part she has played the establishment of the Wales Arts and Humanities Alliance and her involvement in activities that position the arts and humanities within work on planetary health, British Sign Language, and supporting women and girls who are survivors of violence. 

This passion for the social value of the arts and humanities is built on a research career that has seen her involved in the capture of £5m in grants. Kirsti’s research interests include Welsh writing in English, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to gender, ethnicity, disability, climate change, landscape and place. 

She has pioneered work on LGBTQ+ literature in Wales, a fine, recent example being her edited transcript of the diaries of Welsh author and industrialist, Amy Dillwyn.