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The Welsh Government Announces Dylan Thomas 100

2014 Cultural Festival To Celebrate the Life, Work and Legacy of Fabled Welsh Poet

New www.dylanthomas100.org for All Things Dylan, Including 2014 Events

The Prince of Wales, Royal Patron of Dylan Thomas 100 , Records One of His Favorite Dylan Thomas Poems, 'Fern Hill, to Mark National Poetry Day

New York, October 3, 2013 Today, October 3, is National Poetry Day in Wales. What more appropriate time to talk about the countrys storied poet Dylan Thomas. The centenary of Dylan Thomass birth (born Swansea: October 27, 1914; died New York City: November 9, 1953) will be celebrated by a yearlong countrywide cultural festival- Dylan Thomas 100 - in Wales in 2014. A new interactive map-based and eponymously named digital hub www.dylanthomas100.org makes it easy and fun to discover Dylan Thomas, explore places in Wales he is connected with, engage via social networking and locate festival events via a Timeline tab.

The site www.americas.visitwales.com is a resource for planning your Dylan-themed trip to Wales and for downloading a program of Dylan Thomas 100 events. The program will be updated regularly.

The Dylan Thomas 100 Festivals Royal Patron, HRH Prince Charless new reading of Fern Hill is now available online at http://www.dylanthomas100.org/english/multimedia/prince-charles-reads-fern-hill/ . Fern Hill' is one of Thomas's best known poems. The Prince of Wales said: "For National Poetry Day, I was very
glad, if somewhat hesitant!to be able to record a reading of one of my personal favorites, 'Fern Hill', with its poignant and moving evocation of a rural west Wales childhood. I cannot help feeling this is one of the great legacies of Thomas's poetry that it inspires people to appreciate the incomparable landscape of Wales."

Honorary Patron and Dylans granddaughter, Hannah Ellis has joined the Welsh Government in endorsing Dylan Thomas 100 and its digital hub.

Dylan Thomas 100 and www.dylanthomas100.org will of course highlight Welsh locations closely associated with the poet-like his birthplace, Swansea, his old writing shed, and his home -The Boathouse - in the town of Laugharne. And New Quay-template for the Under Milk Wood village, Llareggub (bugger all spelled backwards!). However, the festival encompasses the entire country and beyond. And the program ranges across all artistic disciplines from literature, to opera, theatre and painting. From high profile exhibits and live performances to community-based educational programs.

This celebration will transcend geographic boundaries, stretching beyond Wales to New York. In one of its most inventive and ambitious projects, National Theatre Wales, in cooperation with BBC Wales, will stage a multimedia global event. In a combination of live broadcast, film and performance, a distinguished Welsh cast will engage with contemporary Welsh poet Owen Sheers 60-minute version of Under Milk Wood in a transatlantic live-linked event, with characters and voices in various locations from Laugharne to New York. For the live theater audiences, this may be an intimate audience of six in a dressing room with actor Eve Myles (TORCHWOOD) or hundreds on a street in Laugharne with Artistic Director / Actor Michael Sheen (FROST / NIXON; THE QUEEN).

Business and Tourism Minister Edwina Hart said: Dylan Thomas is one of the literary giants of the last century. These events will help contribute to a fitting legacy for Dylans life and work, but I also hope they will resurrect a passion for literature and inspire people of all ages to connect more actively with our rich cultural heritage. In the spirit of Dylan, it is an opportunity to showcase Wales as a land of artistic excellence to an international audience and raise further the iconic status of this great literary figure.