Fans celebrate colorful poet at Dylan Thomas festival in Wales

SWANSEA, Wales - When I first entered the Dylan Thomas Centre in this seaside town of some 228,000, I was immediately transported back to the high school English class where we studied the work of this famous Welsh poet.

“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” “Fern Hill” and “Under Milk Wood,” performed by fellow Welsh native Richard Burton, reverberated in my head.

There seemed no better place to begin my exploration of this colorful poet’s life than the Dylan Thomas Centre, which welcomes 120,000 visitors annually, including 20 percent from the United States, and was opened in 1995 by former President Jimmy Carter.

It houses the permanent exhibition, “The Man and Myth,” said to be based on the largest collection of memorabilia of its kind in the world. (Reportedly the world’s largest archive of the poet’s writings is housed at the University of Texas, Austin.)

With a research room, dramatic high-tech audio-visual displays, gigantic murals, timelines, family photos, letters, manuscripts, film clips and newsreels it’s a wonderful portrayal of Thomas’ creative yet turbulent life.

Brilliant and complex

A brilliant, complex man, Thomas was born in 1914 in Swansea, “the gritty seaside town where he felt safe,” noted Paul Ferris, author of “Dylan Thomas: The Biography.” Although he left for stints elsewhere, he always returned, and he was living near here in Laugharne the last few years of his life.

“Dylan had this rather odd view that all the best poets died young and that he himself would never make forty,” wrote his widow (with co-author George Tremlett) in her book, “Caitlin: Life with Dylan Thomas.”

He died suddenly in New York in 1953, when he was only 39.

More than 55 years later, “Dylan Thomas still has the power to move,” observed Andrew Lycett, author of “Dylan Thomas: A New Life.” “He is an important figure in 20th century culture … feted for invigorating English literature by introducing it to different sounds, intonations and ways of thinking.”

Diverse fan club

Fans have included Bill Clinton, Igor Stravinsky, Charlie Chaplin, Mick Jagger, Van Morrison, John Lennon (the “Sgt. Pepper’s” album cover features Dylan Thomas among the other celebrity figures), Bob Dylan (who reportedly changed his name in the poet’s honor), and Pierce Brosnan (who named his son Dylan Thomas). Catherine Zeta-Jones (also a Swansea native, who has been involved with the Dylan Thomas Prize) and her husband, Michael Douglas, named their son Dylan and have also toured the museum.

“Until her recent death, Dylan’s daughter, Aeronwy, and her family were keen supporters and regular visitors,” added Jo Furber, Dylan Thomas Project Officer in Swansea.

Growing up in a rather dysfunctional family, the son of a frustrated, distant, strict English teacher father and indulgent housewife mother, Thomas had a sister Nancy, who was eight years older. He developed an early love for literature and the sound of the English language when his parents read him nursery rhymes, folk tales and scripture.

His parents claimed he could read by age 3 and that his father read him Shakespeare when he was only 4. As a child he loved devouring the books in his father’s library and dabbling in verses.

Published by age 11

He published his first poem at age 11 in the school magazine.

The following year he had another poem published in a Cardiff newspaper and received his first paycheck for 10 shillings.

After one of his first rejections, he prophetically lamented, “They have rejected me now, but in years to come, the name Dylan Thomas will echo from shore to shore. Only I won’t be alive to hear it.”

During his late teens he wrote and compiled some 200 poems in school notebooks. He had several poems published in newspapers and literary magazines outside Wales, including the first, “And Death Shall Have No Dominion” in 1933.

His poetry themes often revolved around love, life, birth and death.

First book at 20

In 1934, his first book, “18 Poems,” was published when he was only 20; two years later his next published book was “Twenty-five Poems.”

Over the years his fame gradually spread, especially in the United States, where he became a public figure, something he had never done in Britain, noted Ferris.

Lovable, childish and egocentric, Thomas lived a bohemian lifestyle, sometimes with bizarre behavior, hanging out in pubs, excessively drinking and smoking, entertaining his many friends with gossip and exaggerated stories.

The rare times he held a full-time job included stints working for newspapers, as a radio announcer or for the BBC, writing scripts and documentaries. He also performed a bit in theater productions and gave poetry readings in his rich voice.

Poetic moocher

He mooched off friends and family, borrowed money that was never repaid and lived on credit or brazenly stole items from friends to pawn.

“What will become of him Heaven knows,” his exasperated sister wrote in 1933.

He never owned a house or car and stayed at relatives’ homes or in friends’ apartments. Sometimes he charmed someone into paying his rent.

This didn’t sit too well once he married feisty, free-spirited Caitlin Macnamara, his drinking buddy, in 1937, and eventually had three children to support.

Even with well-paying university speaking engagements on several U.S. tours, he never seemed able to hold onto his money. When he died, his bank accounts were nearly depleted and he had many debts. The family was in arrears nine months to the milkman.

“His reality was his poetry,” observed London friend John Pudney. “His unreality was his way of life.”

‘The Edge of Love’

After his death numerous books were written about him, and his popularity grew immensely. His estate generated money from his work that left his widow well off. Their stormy, 16-year marriage, fueled by drinking and numerous affairs, was the subject of a recent film, “The Edge of Love,” starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Matthew Rhys.

After Thomas’ sudden death - attributed to such factors as alcohol and medication - Caitlin moved to Italy, began a longtime relationship with a Sicilian and had another child at age 49. She died in 1994 at age 81 and is buried next to Thomas at St. Martin’s Churchyard, Laugharne. In 1982, a plaque was unveiled in his honor at Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey.

Today Thomas’ birthplace and childhood home at No. 5 Cwmdonkin Drive is open for tours and as an overnight accommodation. And Sea View, the seaside home in Laugharne, about 30 miles from Swansea, where he and Caitlin lived from 1938-1940, recently opened as a restaurant with four luxury rooms for overnight stays. The Boat House, also in Laugharne, where the couple resided during the last four years of his life, is also open for tours.

“No modern poet has generated so much criticism, gossip, reminiscence and biography,” noted Ferris. “Thomas undeniably has become a cult, perhaps because his poetry as well as his life went to extremes in a way that people can recognize and admire.”

IF YOU GO:

The 12th Annual Dylan Thomas Festival is set for Oct. 26-Nov. 9, 2009; www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5006.

Learn moe about the Dylan Thomas Centre at www.dylanthomas.com.

Learn about Thomas’ birthplace and childhood home in Swansea:  www.5cwmdonkindrive.com.

Learn about his Sea View, Laugharne, home: www.seaview-laugharne.co.uk.

The Boat House, Laugharne, small admission; check website for opening times, www.dylanthomasboathouse.com.

For info on the Dylan Thomas Prize for Young Writers under age 30: www.dylanthomasprize.com.

Get Swansea Tourism information at www.visitswanseabay.com.

For more information on visiting Wales: www.travelwales.org.

Tags: SDNN

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