Poetry courses to follow in Dylan’s footsteps

A new weekly poetry and writing course based at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive – the birthplace and home of Dylan Thomas – aims to encourage new and aspiring writers to express themselves through their work.

 The course “Poetry – to begin at the beginning” is the first in a series of ten week long courses being run by Anne and Geoff Haden of Dylan Thomas House in conjunction with the poet and writer Peter Thabit Jones who is an acknowledged expert on the work of Dylan Thomas and has lectured and taught all over the world.

The courses start on Thursday 23rd September (10.00am to 12.00) and for the first five participants to enrol there is a discounted course fee of £35 instead of the normal £75.

Says Mr Thabit Jones, “Many people want to write and don’t know where to start, so the aim of the course is to explore some aspects of writing and poetry and to help participants develop their own style.

“We want the course to be at the level of the participants who will be encouraged to develop their own work and to explore their own creativity.

“Not only will the course allow people to write in the house where Dylan produced over two thirds of his published output but we will also explore the local area including Cwmdonkin Park and the Uplands for further inspiration.”

Mr Jones is the founder of the international poetry magazine The Seventh Quarry and has recently completed the narration of a DVD Dylan Thomas Walking Tour of Greenwich Village, which he produced in collaboration with the late Aeronwy Thomas – Dylan’s daughter – on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government in New York.

Anne Haden says “I’m really excited that Peter has agreed to run these courses as I know that there is a demand in Swansea from both the aspiring and the more experienced poets and writers.

“Poetry was once the province of the elite but Dylan showed that an ordinary guy can produce great work and, although we can’t bring Dylan back, we can create some of the environment that helped him be so prolific in his early years”.

“Later in the year we will be announcing a series of weekend courses in a number of different creative arts.

Peter Thabit Jones   01792 774070 or info@peterthabitjones.com

Anne Haden   01792 472555 or info@5cwmdonkindrive.com

Peter Thabit Jones leads a discussion at a poetry reading with members of The Seventh Quarry magazine

Published in: on 8 September, 2010 at 10:31 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Two festivals, two languages, worlds apart

Last week was the start of the festival season in and around Wales and I could not have witnessed two more diverse events only 50 miles or so apart.

Remember that I’m writing this in the knowledge that, although Dylan spoke only English, (more…)

Bob Zimmerman, Dylan and John Lennon – what’s in a name?

Oh dear – I’ve just offended an American!

I stumbled across a blog called the Ten Minute Ramble with some videos of Bob Dylan and just pointed out that he took his name from our own Dylan.

If I did! (more…)

Under 30? Written any published work? Want £30,000?

CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR 2010 DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE

Third award of world’s biggest literary prize for young writers 

Entries are being invited for the world’s biggest literary award for young writers – the £30,000 ($45,000) Dylan Thomas Prize – which will be awarded for the third time in December 2010 to the  best published work in the English language by an author under the age of 30 from any country in the world.  (more…)

Published in: on 10 April, 2010 at 10:51 pm  Comments (3)  
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Dylan Thomas and James Joyce now closer again

Dawn over Swansea Bay and the Swansea Cork ferry waits at Mumbles Head to dock

Yesterday’s early morning sight of the Swansea Cork ferry looming out of the mist off  Mumbles Head got me thinking about our Irtish literary links.

The new service is in operation for the first time in three years and its appearance reminded me of Dylan’s admiration of James Joyce and Brendan Behan. (more…)

Published in: on 8 April, 2010 at 10:55 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Big Charabanc, little car

We’ve developed our tours and walks with the emphasis on the ambulant. Not that you need to be an Olympic athlete but Swansea, hilly as it is, inevitably means there’s a climb involved.

Our latest project has been to design a day long visit for an elderly group of literature lovers. (more…)

Published in: on 1 April, 2010 at 11:24 pm  Comments (1)  
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Canadian Writers Journey to Dylan’s Home

Canadians at tea

Evelyn Hannon (left) of journeywoman.com and welsh Blue Badge guide Bill O''Keefe are among the guests taking afternoon tea at Dylan Thomas Birth House

We recently welcomed a group of Canadian writers to the house and they were amazed by the attention to detail of the conversion.

Among them was Evelyn Hannon who is the webmaster of the hugely successful Journey Woman website. Her travel experience is vast and the website emails thousands of subscribers each week making it one of the largest and most influential in North America. (more…)

Like Dylan we have had a period of inactivity!

Particularly towards the end of his life Dylan Thomas has periods when the words never came. Actually, that’s not strictly true – the words of his poetry didn’t come but his film scripts and his radio work gave him new life  – and money!

That is why the Dylan Thomas Prize accepts entries in all the genres that Dylan worked – fiction, short stories, poetry collections, film  and media scripts. It was strange then to hear that Tessa Dahl (she’s the one squashed between Roald and Sophie) at the launch of the Prize in Boston on St David’s Day question whether you could differentiate and find a winner. (more…)

First impressions

I first saw inside 5 Cwmdonkin Drive in October 2003 when the house was open to visitors during the Dylan Thomas Festival on the 50th anniversary of his death.

At the time the house was leased to City and County of Swansea. As I walked up to the door I didn’t really know what to expect. The outside had the same drab, down at heel look as it done for many years before. (more…)

Our Vision

Dylan Thomas is the most famous son of Swansea. A bold claim as there are so many others with claim to the crown but Thomas has a lasting appeal with the legend starting during his own lifetime.

His birthplace – long neglected just as Dylan has been in his home town - is due for restoration and return to its former glory.  

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