Picture Blog from Mountains to Sea 2014

Pop-up Poetry Soapbox at the Dylan Thomas Shed, on Sunday 14th September, with dlr Cathaoirleach Maire Baker, Aideen Howard; Poetry Now Curator, The British Ambassador to Ireland; Dominick Chilcott, Menna Elfyn, Nessa O’Mahoney, Colm Keegan and many more. Thanks to the British Council Ireland, Dylan Thomas Boathouse, Stena Line and the Dylan Thomas 100 Festival.

The British Ambassador to Ireland; Dominick Chilcott

Colm Keegan, dlr Writer in Residence

Aideen Howard; Poetry Now Curator

         David Melling who worked with Yasmeen Ismail on the Picture Book Picnic 

 outside the new library, dlr LexIcon

David Melling

   David Park and Sinead Morrissey in conversation with Gerald Dawe

My Birthday began with the water - The Legacy of Dylan Tomas, with Menna Elfyn, Nessa O'Mahony and Nery's Williams, chaired by Siobhan Parkinson

Replica Dylan Thomas shed in Ireland for Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival

A replica of the writing shed used by poet and writer Dylan Thomas has travelled across the Irish Sea to Dún Laoghaire this week as part of the Mountains to Sea dlr literary festival.

The shed, which includes curled pictures on the walls, boiled sweets on the desk and the poet’s jacket still hanging on the back of his chair, is on tour as part of Dylan Thomas 100, a year-long festival commemorating the centenary of the Welsh writer’s birth.

The original shed sits above the Boathouse in the seaside town of Laugharne where Thomas lived with his wife Caitlin whose family came from Co Clare.

Hannah Ellis, Thomas’ granddaughter, said she was pleased to see her grandfather’s work celebrated in Ireland given her family’s connection with the country, adding that “Ireland shares a language as well as a strong poetic tradition with Wales”.

The shed replica will travel to Ireland on board the Stena Europe from Fishguard to take part in the festival from 12-14th September.

Eoin Colfer and Aneirin Karadog, Children’s Laureates from Ireland and Wales, will join poets Menna Elfyn, Nessa O’Mahoney and Nerys Williams at the Dún Laoghaire literary festival to discuss Dylan Thomas, his poetry and his legacy.
Thanks to the British Council Ireland for partnering on this project. 

Do not go gentle into that good night: 

Dylan Thomas Season 

A taste of what is to come at Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival with the Poetry Shed , A British Council of Ireland Project in Celebration of Dylan Thomas Centenary 2014

Do not go gentle into that good night" is a villanelle written by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), considered to be one of his finest works. Written for his dying father, it is one of Thomas's most popular and accessible poems. The poem has no title other than its first line, "Do not go gentle into that good night", a line which appears as a refrain throughout. The poem's other equally famous refrain is "Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

In partnership with the festival, British Council Ireland is delighted to bring the replica of Dylan Thomas’ famous writing shed across the Irish Sea to the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival from 12th-14th September 2014.

The shed will set sail on board the Stena Europe from Fishguard and makes the sea leg of its journey to Ireland courtesy of Stena Line ferries.

The shed - complete with curled pictures on the walls, boiled sweets on the desk and the poet’s jacket still hanging on the back of his chair – is on tour as part of Dylan Thomas 100, the year-long festival commemorating the centenary of the great Welsh writer’s birth.

The original shed sits above the Boathouse in the scenic seaside town of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, where Thomas lived with his wife Caitlin (whose family hailed from County Clare), and where he penned some of his most famous works including Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night and his play for voices Under Milk Wood.

There will be a number of special events taking place in and around the shed for festival-goers to enjoy from creative writing workshops for teenagers delivered by award-winning Welsh and Irish poets, Poetry Take-aways, a Dylan Thomas Poetry Soapbox with a surprise line-up of readers and in honour of Dylan’s love for words, the public will be invited to invent their own new word to be added to the ‘Dictionary for Dylan’, which the shed is adding to wherever it goes.

Eoin Colfer and Aneirin Karadog, the Children’s Laureates from both Ireland and Wales, will also come together for a lively event in the new dlr LexIcon and the weekend finishes with acclaimed poets Menna Elfyn, Nessa O’Mahoney and Nerys Williams discussing the man, his poetry and his legacy in a special event chaired by Siobhán Parkinson.