Welsh Dylan

by John Ackerman

"“ I am a Welshman; I am a drunkard; I am a lover of the human race, especially of women.” This penetrating study uses photographs of Dylan Thomas, his family, friends, and environment, to explore the poet's Welsh identity and its influence on his work. Welsh Dylan surveys Thomas's background, upbringing and life in Wales, and discusses the distinctively Welsh flavour of the Swansea stories, his Laugharne-indluenced later poetry, and the warm, gossiping village life that informs perhaps his most famous work, “Under Milk Wood.” From Cwmdonkin Park and Fern Hill to Ann Jones and Caitlin Thomas; from the Boat House and New Quay to Vernon Watkins and Florence Thomas, Ackerman's verdict is that Welshness is absolutely central to one of the century's great writers. John Ackerman's introduction considers his recent research into Thomas' politics—a further result of his Welsh background—while Dylan Thomas's daughter Aeron recalls her childhood in Laugharne in a

152 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 1982