Looking Ahead to #DylanDay 2021 ... Immagine e Poesia

 

Tomorrow is #DylanDay (see here), so I wanted to post some photographs linked to the poet whose hometown of Swansea was also my home for two decades. The water fountain in Cwmdonkin Park in the picture above had a chained cup in the days of Dylan's childhood. 

 

 

The park is a riot of colour in spring when the tulips are in flower and the ornamental cherry trees are in bloom. 

Italian poet and Dylan Thomas aficionado, Lidia Chiarelli, charter member and co-ordinator of the Immagine e Poesia movement, has been busy assembling and curating a website of international writing and visual art to mark the day. 

I am delighted to have my poem, 'The Gothic Arch', posted on Lidia's website (do scroll down slowly and read the wealth of new contributions, though the easiest way to find my poem may be to scroll to the bottom here and then move the cursor up the page a little). My poem, as you will see, was written in response to a few words from one of Dylan's poems. 

The site also contains articles, such as one by Peter Thabit Jones on 'Dylan Thomas and Greenwich Village, New York', in which he ponders some of the fascinating 'what ifs' in relation to Dylan's short but extraordinary literary life. 

Do click over to the site and explore some of the features. 

Thank you, Lidia, grazie mille. 

 

* * *

Lidia informs me that the website event is sponsored by the Metropolitan City of Turin.

Here are the links to the Poets' and to the Artists' sections: the contributions are in order of arrival ...

https://dylandaycelebration.jimdofree.com/poets-for-dylanday/

https://dylandaycelebration.jimdofree.com/artists-for-dylanday/

- 48 Participating Countries on 5 continents

 

102 POEMS/HAIKU

6 VISUAL POEMS

41 ARTWORKS

8 ARTWORKS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM "CIRCOLO DEGLI ARTISTI" - TORINO

5 INSTALLATIONS (PHOTO SHARE)

6 MUSIC COMPOSITIONS

8 ARTICLES/ESSAYS

5 VIDEOS/VIDEO-CLIPS

3 LETTERS

'Dear Dylan'

Cwmdonkin Park, Swansea

My poem-and-letter submission [9/2019] has been accepted for the 2020 Indigo Dreams Publishing 'Dear Dylan' anthology (to be edited by IDP poet and Cheltenham Poetry Festival Director, Anna Saunders). My poem has a Cornish setting since Dylan and Caitlin got married in Penzance, but my letter is based in Swansea, which was my home for nearly twenty years.   

And, on the subject of poets with a Swansea link and the surname Thomas, we have just ordered a copy of Jeff Towns' new edition of 'Swansea Village' by Edward Thomas. My copy has been tucked away until my birthday, but I'm told it includes contributions from Jeff Towns, Peter Thabit Jones (who published my chapbook), Andrew Green and Peter Stead.

Media Matters: 'The Holy Place' in Writing Magazine

Launch of The Holy Place, Dylan Thomas Birthplace, Swansea

I opened the current (January 2013!) edition of Writing Magazine today to find that my submission for the Members' News section had been accepted for publication. It consists of half a column on my poetry chapbook, shared with John Dotson (above left), and published by Peter Thabit Jones (above centre), editor of The Seventh Quarry, in conjunction with Stanley H. Barkan of Cross-Cultural Communications, New York.

The piece is on p.16 in the Members' News section.

If you would like to buy a copy of the chapbook, perhaps as a stocking filler or gift for a poetry lover, the cost is £3.50 including UK p&p. More details can be found on my website here, and you can contact me either via the red 'contact' button on the site or via the Comments section just under this post.

The Holy Place chapbook

5 Cwmdonkin Drive

• The Holy Place chapbook on The Next Big Thing

Calendar Corner (1): National Poetry Week

5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea, Wales, UK

We are much looking forward to participating in ...

The International Dylan Thomas Birthplace Festival 

Ways with Words

3 – 9 October 2011

David and I join Peter Thabit Jones (ed. The Seventh Quarry) and other poets on Saturday 8 October. Do take a look at the programme for Dylan's Birthplace and don't forget the National Poetry Day website.

International Echoes (13): 俳句 in Response to the Earthquake

Cherry Trees in Cwmdonkin Park, Swansea, Wales, UK (where the young Dylan Thomas played)

We continue to reel at the events of the past few days and at the prospect of what is still to come. Our hearts go out to those who have been affected.

You might like to read some Haiku (俳句), written by members of our global community in solidarity with our friends in Japan, New Zealand and elsewhere.

Ban'ya Natsuishi has been preparing a blog post of these sentiments. If you click the link and scroll down far enough, you will see that I have sent a Haiku from Wales.

Poetry Events (3): The Seventh Quarry at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive

No.5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea - at dusk

Dr Tino Villanueva
signs his books
after the reading in 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea,
home of Dylan Thomas.
June 2010

Last Friday evening, I was invited an event hosted by Peter Thabit Jones, editor of The Seventh Quarry in the fascinating home of Dylan Thomas, no.5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea.

Dr Tino Villanueva read a number of his poems in English and Spanish. Some poems were in both English and Spanish. Tino spoke of his fascination for words, and of his love for Dylan's poetry. Tino, who is on the staff of Boston University, is seen as 'a Chicano poet of bicultural word and history.'

I was invited to read my poem, 'Migration Mirage', which appears on p.49 of The Seventh Quarry, issue 11, Winter 2010.