Nam Le, who won the 60,000 Dylan Thomas Prize for his book The Boat last November took on the challenge of meeting 11 year old schoolchildren from Terrace Road School as part of his role as an ambassador for the University of Wales sponsored Prize.The meeting with the 36 Year 6 pupils took place at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive , Uplands, Swansea - the birthplace of Dylan Thomas which has been restored to its condition as a new house in 1914 by local couple Anne and Geoff Haden and where the prizewinning author stayed for a few days.Said Nam "The children amazed me with their range of original ideas - they kept me on my toes all day."Staying at the birthplace of Dylan Thomas has been a huge treat - I've learned something about how this house and the area influenced his early work."Apart from the workshops with Nam the children also toured the house with Anne and were shown by tour guide Ann Hughes how to make a cup opf tea using leaf tea, a teapot and china cups with not a teabag in sight!.Geoff took them on a trip to nearby Cwmdonkin Park where they followed the love triangle short story Patricia, Edith and Arnold in which Patricia, the maid at Number 5 and Edith who worked next door discover that they are dating the same man. Sparks fly when the three meet up at the bowls pavillion in the park under the watchful eye of the youthful storyteller Dylan!In the evening Nam and 2006 prizewinner Rachel Tresize talked about their writing careers in conversation with Peter Stead and award winning author Flur Dafydd at the Dylan thomas Centre.

American undergraduate students from the School of Natural Sciences at Colgate University in Hamilton NY swopped science studies for Celtic studies and voted the visit to Dylan Thomass birthplace at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Uplands, Swansea as one of the highspots of their visit to Wales over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend.The university is 100 miles from New York and takes its name from the founder of the Colgate soap dynasty and students take a year out of their science studies to follow a course in literature and the arts.Course lecturer Ken Belanger who devised the programme said The ethos of the university is to give students the opportunity to graduate with a rounded education which suits them better for the ever flexible modern working environment.At Cwmdonkin Drive we were able to combine superb hosts with a beautiful house to give the students an outstanding experience of the influences on Dylan's work.T James Jones of Cardiff University has been responsible for organising the visit said Historically we have only looked at the house which was so much a part of Dylan and his work from outside but this year we had a wonderful tour which has really brought Dylan alive.Although we look broadly at Celtic literature Dylan and his work is very popular with the students and visiting the house is a privilege and a real bonus.The students entered into the spirit of the Edwardian house experience by helping to prepare afternoon tea made from loose tea served from a teapot into china cups accompanied by home made Welsh cakes.The Bank Holiday Celtic trail continued with a visit to the Thomas family home at Fernhill near Carmarthen before travelling to an overnight stay in St Davids.The holiday weekend produced a steady stream of visitors for the pre booked guided tours of Dylans birthplace which last about two hours and Anne Haden said We have been delighted with the response and the Bank Holiday sunshine brought out so many people that we ran out of Welsh cakes at one stage.