Happy 100th Birthday Dylan Thomas!

On this day, 27th October 2014, Welsh poet and wordsmith Dylan Thomas would have turned 100 years old. To mark this significant occasion, a number of venues have taken to commemorating this most celebrated of Welsh poets with special events and performances.

The occasion has seen self-catering Pembrokeshire cottages booked up months in advance as a result of the many great festivals and events taking place there at this time in addition to the October half term that regularly sees so many families enjoy holidays in child friendly Saundersfoot cottages. 

#HappyBirthdayDylanThomas

The day has become so widely publicised that there is even a special hashtag being pushed out on Twitter, where people are celebrating the day and the various events or activities of their own with the hashtag #HappyBirthdayDylanThomas. 

The dedicated website to mark the occasion, dylanthomas100.org, details a range of events that visitors to Wales can enjoy and choose from via their useful map. Further information on TV and radio shows can be found on the site, and even details of events taking place in the United States where Thomas spent the end of his life, having died in New York in 1953 at the age of 39.

In addition to many great Dylan Thomas commemorative events around this centenary, a number of institutions that celebrate his life year-round are to put on special exhibitions and showings. The Dylan Thomas Centre is set to reopen on this day, having been updated with £935,000 of funding, and a special Dylan’s Birthday Walk and Dylan Thomas Boathouse Flash Mob is taking place at the Dylan Thomas Boathouse and Writing Shed at the writer’s former home in Laugharne, which now takes the form of a museum celebrating his life’s work. 

To find more great events taking place in Wales this October half term, see this previous Powells article, Dylan Thomas: The Wordsmith of South Wales, for a full round up of events and locations this centenary.

To read up on some of Dylan Thomas’ greatest works, check out his page on PoemHunter.com. 

Image Credit: Dylan Thomas Boathouse

This content was written by Emily Bray. Please feel free to visit my Google+ profile to read more stories.