Lots of new people to the house and perhaps lots of new book readers – Dylan would have been proud!

40,000 copies of the book have been printed especially for World Book Night

The World Book Night comes to the birthplace of Dylan Thomas at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Uplands, Swansea on Saturday (5^th March 2.00 – 8.00 pm) with 48 copies of the award winning novel Fingersmith by Welsh author Sarah Waters to be given away.

Anne Haden from Dylan Thomas House has organised the event and says  “These are brand new books printed specially for World Book Night and we’re looking to give the books away to those who might not normally be able to get out and buy a book”.

 “The books are absolutely free and part of the giveaway of one million books to encourage people to read and I chose Fingersmith as I read it when it was first published and enjoyed its great storyline and craftsmanship.

 “This is a great opportunity as we all know someone who can’t get out easily, whose local library has closed or who can’t afford to buy a book.

 “Nominating a person with us means they can come to the birthplace of Dylan Thomas, meet other people, receive their book and become one in a million.

 “Maybe there is someone who hasn’t read a book for a while and this will rekindle their interest.

 “We’re planning a follow up event in a month when we hope they will all come along, exchange their views and perhaps some of their favourite books.”

 Anne Haden says that she thinks Dylan would have approved of the event “Dylan would have loved this – having a contemporary book for free and passing it on to others.”

The book is set in 19^th century England and is the story of two orphans from very different backgrounds and was adapted for television by the Cardiff born writer Andrew Davies who is currently enjoying the limelight with his adaptation of South Riding. Andrew Davies also has a Dylan Thomas connection as he is on the judging panel of the Dylan Thomas Prize.

 Because of the likely demand the books are available for collection on a first come, first served basis and need to be reserved by phone or email before the event.

 Anne Haden 01792 472555 or info@5cwmdonkindrive.com

 www.worldbooknight.org

 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

Cerys Matthews – the singer who rose to fame as the lead singer in Catatonia -has agreed to be one of the judges. She recorded part of the BBC2 programme My Life in Verse at Number 5

Check for further details on Dylan Thomas Prize website but hurry – entries close at the end of August

The Bollom family who have owned the pier since before the war have long being trying to convince the local authority about their ambitious plans. Almost ten years ago I talked with Stan Bollom about his plans and it is now his grandson Nick who is leading the family campaign.

With support from local AMs and MPs as well as the council leader Chris Holley where is the stumbling block? I can only guess at the planning department but of course I may be wrong. The Community Council have been known to object to anything NIMBY before (see the sorry state of the Oystermouth Bus Station).

Particularly in these tough economic times, plans that create hundreds of building jobs and could benefit the local economy to the tune of £18m a year should be supported wholeheartedly.

Other parts of Dylan’s Mumbles are in a sorry state – the Mermaid Hotel had a mysterious fire not long before it was up for redevelopment as flats (sorry – apartments), the Antelope is looking in a sorry state and the Oystercatcher (formerly the Nag’s Head) is being turned into a Costa Coffee Shop. The Mumbles Pier development could signal the re-emergence of Mumbles as the jewel in Swansea’s crown

If Dylan came back on a Return Journey to Mumbles he would have plenty to talk about!

Mystery surrounds the announcement with the ferry company first blaming Swansea City Council for not providing suitable landing facilities and then withdrawing the statement and blaming themselves. Either way it seems to me that the first thing you get sorted if you are running a passenger ferry is where you are going to land!

I’m reminded of the 7P’s – Poor Preparation and Planning Produce Piss Poor Performance!

More though I’m annoyed that new private sector initiatives are stifled by bureaucracy – hasn’t anyone told them that we are in a recession?

A more worrying development from a local perspective is that the company is progressing well with plans to run between Cardiff and Minehead - if these succeed then I can see the Swansea Ilfracombe link being a side show and the decline of the tourism business on each side of the channel set to continue.

It’s not the only ferry with problems. The new Swansea Cork ferry suffers from having no access ramp for passengers from the dockside – they have to be bussed onboard  through the car entrance in a 10-15 seater bus – just imagine how long it takes to disembark 400 foot passengers – crazy!

This, I might add is not the fault of the council but is to do with Associated British Ports. Perhaps all these people should take a trip to Cork and see the support there for a ferry which has been launched by a private sector initiative.

Remember that I’m writing this in the knowledge that, although Dylan spoke only English, both his parents spoke English and Welsh and his work was developed through the sounds of the Welsh language spoken and sung around him.

So, to hear that the Welsh League of Youth Eisteddfod - the Urdd – in Ceredigion positively discriminated against the English speaker raised the hackles a little. My confidante tells me that she felt decidedly unwelcome as an English speaker and couldn’t believe that competitors had to pay to enter the ground.

For an organisation that enjoys vast public subsidy this is pretty scandalous money-grabbing particularly as most of the children are entered by their teachers who promote the event (how else would you get over 15 entries in an under 10 violin competition?).

Perhaps the vast number of Welsh quangos present have forgotten that whatever the language – English, Welsh or Chinese - everyone one of those doting parents had paid for accommodation, food and entertainment in a massive boost to the local economy. With a little encoragement they might even start to learn the language.

Next year the event is in Swansea – pity no one was there to promote it!

Cross the country to a little town just across the border into England and experience a proper welcome. I attended the Guardian Hay Festival for the first time and found it refreshing – reasonable priced car park immediately opposite the ground, no entry fee (you pay for the events that you wish to attend), reasonably priced food and drink (was beer £3 a pint at the Urdd?) and plenty of things for adults and children to see and do.

 This is an event that should be required attendance for anyone contemplating running any kind of festival or event – it’s an object lesson in how to get the best speakers at little or no cost and exist without massive state subsidies – they’ve already taken over the ailing Brecon Jazz Festival and have franchise events all over the world – more power to their elbow!

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! It prompted a long list of the influences of Mr Zimmerman ending in “Lastly comparing a relatively unknown drunken Welsh poet that hardly anyone knows, and maybe had one good and memorable poem to Robert Zimmerman is like comparing Oasis to the Beatles.
Please.”

So sensitive!

I didn’t compare Dylan to Mr Zimmerman (how can you?) just alluded to the influence that the Welsh poet had on him and, as it happens, his other idols -The Beatles. Dylan Thomas was the only living person on the cover of Sergeant Pepper because of John Lennon’s admiration for his work.

Dylan’s drunkard image came from a book by a sad American John Malcom Brinnin on Dylan’s Days in America.

Dylan had many things in common with Lennon, and perhaps Oasis, he was a shy and sensitive person who couldn’t handle the media pressure. He was undoubtedly the media star of his day when radio was king.

I did ask which one of his poem’s was he referring to – Do not go gentle, Death shall have no dominion, Fern Hill, Under Milk Wood?

And not to be put down I pointed out that he also wrote magnificent short stories, film scripts and radio broadcasts and is the second most quoted poet after another unknown Brit – William Shakespeare.

All this from a modest house in a beautiful seaside area of Wales. Come and see at http://www.dylanthomashouse.com or http://www.5cwmdonkindrive.com – there’s a lot to learn!

I’ll keep you posted!

I don’t know what Dylan would have made of modern elections but I’m sure he would have plenty of comments about candidates strutting their stuff over the past four weeks.

Most people who I’ve spoken to today congratulated us on our good fortune – an extra week they exclaimed – none realised that we were away for a week longer from our businesses at a crucial time of the year. 

During that short time what we saw, however, was ineptitude and panic on a grand scale. Ineptitude from the airlines in not making it clear what was happening (or not as the case might be) and ineptitude from the air traffic controls and government in handling the situation.

It is said that whenever there is an accident it takes a minute or so before someone takes control – in this case no one took control and it was left to the airlines to prove that the dust was not the danger that was first thought.

Just like George Bush after the New Orleans hurricane disaster politicians were slow to react. Of course, they have bigger things on their minds – their livelihood for the next four years is at stake so putting your head above the parapet two weeks before a General Election is a risky business – rubbish.

A strong leader would have turned the disaster to a triumph not just the gesture of sending in the three biggest ships in the Navy with the net result of bringing off 300 stranded tourists from northern Spain.

The public around us were just as bad – we heard of people paying £1,500 for a taxi from Spain to Calais and others booking Eurostar and a ferry crossing “just in case” their flight wasn’t available.

We sat and waited and will now have the interesting project of recovering some of our costs from the airline and our insurers – bmibaby are the airline and it took a round the houses run of telephone calls this morning to see just how they were working.

No hope of any help from the politicians - they’re back to the main event – now that the Navy have tidied up the disaster!