Oh no he isn't - he would be 98 on 27th October 2012.Ah but.....when Dylan's daughter - the late Aeronwy - opened the restored Dylan Thomas Birthplace on 27th October 2008 it seemed appropriate to start the house's new life as it would have been in 1914 so - four years on we are in 1918, the first World War is almost over and young Dylan is just four years old.Tonight the Birthplace at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive hosts a celebration complete with birthday cake and entertainment - for adults! It's an international line up including Swedish folk singer Fanny Holm, poet/songwriter Tony Webb and the mistress of the ukelele Cheryl Beer.If you are in Swansea it starts at 7.00pm and there is more about events at the Birthplace on http://www.5cwmdonkindrive.com/events.php . This includes details of the short listed authors for the Dylan Thomas Prize at the Birthplace which - along with our mother company Clyne Farm Centre ( http://www.clynefarm.com ) - is the official authors' residence in the week leading up to the awards of the 30,000 ($45,000) prize on 9th November

27th October is the 96th anniversary of the birth of Dylan Thomas.

As part of the Dylan Down the Ups celebrations we are having a 'gathering' at his birthplace - 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Uplands, Swansea - tonight.

Lots of people reading Dylan's work, some food, some wine.

Do you have a favourite Dylan poem or story - we'd loved to hear it.

I've got to hold my hand up and confess - two days ago I upset an American .

How you might ask? Well, I dared to point out on a blog that Bob Dylan took his stage name after our own Dylan Thomas. Oh dear, to even suggest that there was a creative genius before Mr Zimmerman who was apparently the only influence on everyone from The Beatles to The Cheeky Girls. There's more on our blog and plenty about Dylan and Swansea

CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR 2010 DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE

Third award of worlds biggest literary prize for young writers

This is a competition that is close to my heart having served on the board of directors for the past six years in which time our 'little baby' has turned into the most successful prize for young authors and writers.

Entries are being invited for what is the worlds 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. Shorttlisted writers will be flown to Wales for a week long An Author's Christmas in Wales before the Prize announcement.

The deadline for submission of entries is 30th April 2010 and the full rules and entrty form can be downloaded from www.dylanthomasprize.com .

The Prize commemorates the life of Dylan Thomas who first published in his teens and then achieved an international reputation in his twenties.

Entry is open to published works in the English language of fiction, verse and drama and can be in the form of poetry, a novel, collection of short stories, broadcast radio play, play that has been performed professionally, screenplay that has resulted in a feature-length film. With a growing list of sponsors this year there will be now entry fee - but hurry not much time left to enter.

The Prize was established in Dylans home town of Swansea in 2006, is sponsored by the University of Wales and from this year will become an annual event.

An international panel of judges, chaired by the acclaimed television writer Andrew Davies, awarded the Prize in 2006 to Rachel Trezise for her volume of short stories, Fresh Apples and in 2008 Peter Florence, organiser of the Hay Literary Festival, chaired a judging panel which awarded the prize to Nam Le for his book The Boat

Says Prize board member Geoff Haden who has restored Dylan's birthplace The entries we have received in the past from all over the world have been outstanding and many of those authors and poets recognised by the Prize are now carving a niche in the literary world.

The longlist is expected to be announced in early summer by Prize ambassador Michael Sheen.

Further information Geoff Haden 01792 403333

DYLANS SET RECORDTwenty five people with the first name of Dylan claimed a new British record for the most people of the same name in one place when they assembled in Cwmdonkin Park in Dylan Thomas home city of Swansea yesterday (Sunday, 25th October).Anne Haden organised the event as part of the Uplands based Dylan Down the Ups celebration of the 95th anniversary of the birth of Dylan Thomas which has its main street party on Dylans birthday on 27th October.Says Anne Haden Dylan was not a common name when he was born but it has become more popular but the response that we have had is wonderful with a 3 week old baby travelling form Ireland, a 10 year old girl called Dylan and even a Yorkshire terrier of the same name.Next year we want to make it bigger again and will also go for the record for people with the surname of Thomas."I think that we have been modest in clainming a British record as I'm sure this is also a world record which is now set to be beatenIts fitting that we held the gathering in Cwmdonkin Park as it was very dear to Dylan who wrote about his world within a world throughout his life.Dylan Down the Ups is about making Dylan Thomas more accessible and to introduce people to the poems and short stories that were inspired by his life in Swansea and the Uplands in particular.

Back in March Howard Evans and I "met" through his post on Americymru when he was planning his summer trip to Wales.Last week we met up when he stayed at one of our self catering cottages in Clyne Farm Centre with his wife Judy and a couple of friends from Luxemborg.Howard spent some of his time in South Wales tracing his ancestors annd managed to find a family gravestone in a churchyard in Cardigan - great achievement!We took the opportunity to show them 5 CwmdonkinDrive - the birthplace of Dylan thomas - and possibly awakened an interest in the Man of Words.From modern culture to the more traditional - this week Howard and Judy are sampling the National Eisteddfod in Bala.

Aeronwy Thomas-Ellis the daughter of Dylan Thomas passed away suddenly on Monday after suffering from cancer for some time.Aeronwy worked tirelessly on behalf of her father's memory and was responsible for keeping his memory alive particularly in the 70s and 80s. Her brother Llewellyn died in 2000 and a younger brother Colm lives in Italy. She has two children Huw and Hannah.We first met Aeronwy and her husband Trefor at the London Welsh Club in London a few months after we had taken on the restoration of 5 Cwmdonkin Drive which was the birthplace of Dylan. She agreed to help us in any way and to be our house inspector when the work was finished.Over the next three years she visited on a number of occasions and officially opened the house to the public on what would have been her father's 94th birthday last 27 October.In unveiling a new plaque on the wall of the house to 'A man of words' she said that she was overwhelmed by the press and media interest in her family (pictured with us at the unveiling).Last year she followed in her father's footsteps and toured the States with Swansea poet Peter Thabit Jones and opened the Dylan Thomas trail in New York.Aeronwy was a small lady with a dry sense of humour who inherited her father's looks and poetic ability - we will miss her support and friendship.Her funeral will be at 1.30pm on Thursday 6th August at Holy Cross Church, Motspur Park, Surrey

Dylan Down The Ups is the title of a brand new series of events to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the birth of Dylan Thomas in his home village of Uplands in Swansea on 27th October 2009.A year ago we - Anne and Geoff Haden - celebrated the opening of the fully restored birthplace of Dylan Thomas at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive with an Edwardian afternoon tea for a hundred people on what would have been the 94th birthday of the most well known man of words of the 20th century. The house lies at the northern boundary of Uplands up a steep hill - Dylan made the journey down many times and people in Swansea refer to the area - and the Uplands Tavern (formerly Uplands Hotel) - as 'the Ups'From that successful event we have moved to team up with residents and traders of the village of Uplands to celebrate his 95th birthday with a series of events planned throughout the day to give the area a party atmosphere despite it being in October.Says Anne Haden Swansea is made up of villages and this is Dylans after all it was the place where he lived for over half his life and so much of his work was inspired by the area this is the least that we can do for him.Dylans short stories are typically Welsh and full of humour while his poems are deep. The aim is to bring Dylan back to street level through fun, friendliness and accessibility.The area still has its Victorian and Edwardian character and what we are aiming to do is make the village the centrepiece of the celebrations with events going on in the street and many of the shops, cafes and the pub.People will be able to follow in Dylans footsteps and learn about the shops that were in the Uplands in his day when it was a more select shopping area with its own identityWe want to involve all the community and there will be events for children and adults and because it will be during the October half term should attract a lot of interest from out side Wales.Geoff Haden says that the plans are in an early stage but confirmed that There will be a Dylan Look Alike Competition, short story and art competitions and shops will be encouraged to compete in the best dressed window award.We are in advanced discussions to premiere in Wales a new play about Dylan Poem in October by the writer Robert Forrest written especially for the leading Scottish actor Finlay Welsh and we would love to see people from all over the world.The plans have received enthusiastic support from local traders and we hope that this will develop into a week long event by the time that we celebrate the Centenary of Dylans birth in 2014.Nigel Clatworthy from The Chattery has already given his support to the birthday plans and says Anne has booked our venue for the poet Peter Thabit Jones and musician Terry Clarke for an evening of Dylans work and some new and original material from both performers its something that we are really looking forward to.Want to get involved? Email us at info@5cwmdonkindrive.com