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RECREATING DYLAN'S WEDNESDAY EVENINGS ON A GLOBAL STAGE


By Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 2014-08-05

RECREATING DYLAN'S WEDNESDAY EVENINGS ON A GLOBAL STAGE

On Wednesday evenings the teenage Dylan Thomas met with his friends at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive and now a new initiative called the Poet's Hub is to be launched at the Dylan Thomas Birthplace next month (4th September) which will enable poets from all over the world to connect with each other and also to sell unique handwritten copies of their work

The Poet's Hub ( www.poetshub.com ) is the brainchild of aspiring West Wales poet Robbie Done whose idea is to extend the meeting concept using modern technology to link poets from across the globe using live streams on the internet.

The idea came after he launched Handwritten Poems ( www.handwrittenpoems.co.uk ) a month ago and the Pendine Poet says "We aim to offer as full set of tools for poets in a one stop environment which will evolve to the needs of the poets themselves."

Handwritten Poems is a website where people can buy limited edition or specially commissioned handwritten poems was an idea which came to Mr Done when he saw a sale of paintings in a local coffee shop and the realised "If you can do it for artwork then why not poems?"

The site which was launched a month ago has had an immediate response with over fifty poets having signed up from as far afield as Nigeria and Australia who have posted over 200 poems on the site.

Geoff Haden, the owner of the Birthplace is enthusiastic and says "Every Wednesday evening Dylan and the 'Kardomah boys' used his father's study to bounce ideas around, get honest feedback from one another and develop their skills.

"Now thanks to technology the study will become the central hub of a global network."

Matthew Hughes who is the curator of the Birthplace thinks Dylan would have benefited greatly from both the Poets Hub and the opportunity to sell his work and said "Dylan thrived after meeting like minded people and often created hundreds of drafts of just one poem and when he was struggling financially he frequently sold these to help keep his family afloat financially.” 


Photo Dylan's iconic bedroom dressed as it may have been in 1934 plus the Poets Hub laptop

Further information   Geoff Haden on 07506 064973   Matthew Hughes on 01792 472555

www.poetshub.com

www.handwrittenpoems.co.uk  


Hon. Patron of Birthplace Centenary Events : President Jimmy Carter
Correspondence Address   Geoff Haden, Dylan Thomas House, 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Uplands, Swansea SA2 0RA
Telephone 01792 472555, 07506 064973  Email : geoff@dylanthomasbirthplace.com 
Web :  www.dylanthomasbirthplace.com   www.5cwmdonkindrive.com


Geoff Haden is an expert on Edwardian building construction and Dylan Thomas and has restored the Birthplace of Dylan Thomas in Swansea to its condition when Dylan lived in the house


 

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Google UK goes Welsh


By Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 2014-03-01

UK Google The UK Google site has a large Welsh dragon serving tea to a small round Welsh lady on its home page

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Ragged Rabble to play Dylan Thomas Birthplace


By Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 2014-02-20
This Saturday afternoon, live music and storytelling from The Shamoncies at Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 5 Cwmdonkin Drive . Uplands, Swansea, Wales
*Saturday 22nd February* Come and see this wild rabble of singers, storytellers and poets, The Shamoncies , as they bring the tales of Welsh social history to life in the Thomases front room here at Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 5 Cwmdonkin Drive . The performance starts at 2pm and tickets are just 5. Admission price also includes a house tour after the performance. Leave your homes for the afternoon and head down the drive to Dylan's! Tickets are available here - http://goo.gl/G7KefG or by calling us on (01792) 472 555. Hurry...Tickets are limited! # dylanthomas # discoveredatdylans # creative # arts # dylans # 5cwmdonkin # swansea # swanseabay # DT100
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Google UK recognises St David's Day


By Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 2013-03-01

Google UK has a St David's Day theme on its home page

Haapy leek eating to all from Dylan's birthplace!!!

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The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has agreed to become an Honorary Vice President of the Dylan Thomas Society as it heads towards the centenary of the writers birth in 2014.

The invitation was accepted during an meeting between Archbishop Rowan and the vice chairman of the Society Geoff Haden in which they recorded an interview on Dylan Thomas to feature in an archive at the poets birthplace at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive in Swansea.

The interview, which took place at Lambeth Palace, covered the influence that Dylan Thomas had on Archbishop Rowan who, like Dylan, was born and brought up in Swansea and is a published poet observed I think all of us who were interested in literature at school in Swansea of that generation fancied ourselves as the Dylan Thomas of the next generation and were very much influenced by the superficial style and tried to copy it.

Geoff Haden found that Like Dylan Rowan Williams has a deep affinity with Swansea as it is a place that draws one back.

The interview was part of a project, 100 Voices, to produce one hundred interviews of people who met or were influenced by Dylan over the past one hundred years.

The project is well on its way and meeting people of all walks of life has been fascinating and range from the maid who worked for the Thomas family when Dylan was a teenager to President Jimmy Carter who has been a lifelong fan.

Said Society chairman Jeff Towns We already have Dylans granddaughter Hannah Ellis as our active President and I am delighted that the Archbishop has accepted our invitation as we approach 2014.

The Archbishop saw the centenary as an important milestone and said The best way of celebrating is to encourage young writers and I hope that whatever is done for the centenary thee will be a lasting memorial that will help young people writing poetry and prose perhaps by spending some time with a senior writer or poet.

The edited interview will be showing for house tour visitors at the Dylan Thomas Birthplace at the start of 2013.

Video clip approx 45 seconds starting with quote in last paragraph

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75221900/Rowan%20Williams%20Dylan%20Memorial.mp4

Audio clip as above in wav and aif

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75221900/Rowan%20Williams%20Dylan%20Memorial.wav

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75221900/Rowan%20Williams%20Dylan%20Memorial.aif

The Dylan Thomas Society of GB was founded in 1977 and has been at the forefront of promoting the life and work of Dylan Thomas ever since. The membership is from all over the world including Australia, Japan and USA. It was one of the leading champions of a memorial stone to the poet in Westminster Abbeys Poets Corner and holds a memorial service each year around the time of his birth on 27 th October 1914 at Westminster Abbey. The society holds regular meetings and membership entitles free entry to the Dylan Thomas Birthplace house tours http://www.thedylanthomassocietyofgb.co.uk

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Prince Charles visits Dylan Thomas Birthplace


By Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 2012-12-25

Amid great security HRH PrInce Charles - the Prince of Wales - becamethe first Royal visitor to The Dylan Thomas Birthplace at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Uplands, Swansea earlier this month.

The Prince proved to be a charming guest and took tea in the lounge with house restorers Geoff and Anne Haden, Dylan's granddaughter Hannah Ellis, Welsh Tourism Minister Edwina Hart, poet Peter Thabit Jones and artist Gordon Stuart who painted the last portrait of Dylan which hangs now in the National Gallery in London.

After touring the house (an overstaying his schedule by 20 minutes!) he met John Rhys Thomas and Jeff Towns - past and present chairs of the Dylan Thomas Society - Sian Newman from the Dylan Thomas Prize and Jean Lannigan whose mother Emily Simpson was a maid in the house for five years when she was 15 and Dylan was 16.

The visitor book and commemorative engraved glass plaque are on display in the house.

During the visit it was announced that the Prince will be the Royal patron of DT100 the year long festival in 2014 to celebrate Dylan's birth in 1914 in the front bedroom of the house. Other patrons include Bryn Terfel and Cerys Matthews

Links to news items and photos are on the website

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Seasons' Greetings from the Dylan Thomas Birthplace


By Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 2012-12-25

Greetings from the house made famous in Dylan's story A Child's Christmas in Wales and the place where uncles snored, aunts got drunk on parsnip wine and there were useful presents...and useless presents - sounds pretty normal to me!

Unfortunately this will not be one of the white Christmases that Dylan remembered but a very wet one with floods, landslides and train cancellations

Over the festive season check opening times by telephone 01792 403333 (add UK code if from abroad). More details on website

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Untitled


By Dylan Thomas Birthplace, 2012-11-11
Maggie Shipstead a 28 year old writer from San Diego is the 2012 winner of the 30,000 International Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers sponsored by University of Wales for her debut novel Seating Arrangements .
The book lays bare the pretensions of New England society as a shot gun wedding unfolds through the eyes of the bride's father and draws on the author's experiences as a student in Boston.
In her acceptance speech at a dinner in the National Waterfront Museum in Dylan Thomas' home city of Swansea on the 98th anniversary of Dylan's death on 9th November she praised her fellow shortlisted authors with whom she has lived in cottages at the Official Authors' Residence at Clyne Farm Centre for the past week. During that period they took part in the DylanED schools programme throughout South Wales and said "They are all such talented writers that I feel privileged.to have won"
The judges described the shortlist of five books as outstanding and rivalling any shortlist of any literary competition in the world. The Judges who included Texas professor Kurt Heinzelman, former Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews, best selling novelist Allison Pearson and former Foreign Office minister Kim Howellswere chaired by Hay Ferstival director Peter Florence.
The authorsalso had an opportunity to vist a number of local events, tour the Gower Peninsula and visit the Dylan Thomas Birthplace in Swansea which also sponsors the Prize. Maggie described the house as "A beautiful restoration into a comfortable family home of which Dylan would have been proud.
Miss Shipstead is currently working on her second novel which is about a Russian ballet dancer and is set in New York, London and Paris.
Photo Maggie Shipstead outside the Dylan Thomas Birthplace in Swansea which she described as a beautiful restoration into a comfortable family home of which Dylan would have been proud.
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