NEW PROJECT SEES DYLAN GO DIGITAL
ADIGITAL collection of manuscripts, notebooks and photographs relating to the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas is now available free online, thanks to an international collaboration.
Supported by the Dylan Thomas Trust, the landmark project is a joint initiative between Swansea University and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, which holds the largest collection in the world of transcripts and letters by the Swansea-born poet and dramatist.
The Dylan Thomas Digital Collection features more than 6,000 digitised images, including manuscripts, correspondence, notebooks, drawings, photographs and more, enabling people across the globe to study his literary works and gain an insight into his creative process.
The collection includes the handwritten manuscript of one of Thomas’ most famous poems, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, first published in 1951.
Materials related to the radio play Under Milk Wood are also contained in the archive, including extensive notes, workings, outlines and an incomplete early draft, along with a revised manuscript.
Born on October 27, 1914, in Uplands, Swansea, Dylan Marlais Thomas died on November 9, 1953, in New York City.
Though his life was short, he completed a wealth of work known for its comic exuberance, rhapsodic lilt and pathos, and is widely considered one of the greatest 20th-century poets writing in English.
“This initiative promises to deepen our understanding of f Dylan Thomas’ creative e process and lead to new w insights into his poetry y and other writings,” said d Stephen Enniss, Betty y Brumbalow Director of the Harry Ransom Center. r.
“We are grateful for this s collaboration with Swannsea University and grateeful, too, to the Dylan n Thomas Trust which has as made it possible for us to share the collection with readers everywhere.”
Swansea University’s Richard Burton Archives holds the “lost” fifth notebook and rare proof copies of several of Thomas’ works. Its annual Swansea University sit Dylan Thomas Prize is awarded to the best published literary work in the English language written by an author aged 39 or under. his