The Dylan Thomas Centre is an arts centre located in the Maritime Quarter in Swansea, Wales.
Formerly the city's Guildhall, which was originally built in 1825, the Dylan Thomas Centre was restored and refurbished to host the UK Year of Literature and Writing in 1995.
It was opened in 1995 by American ex-President Jimmy Carter, and has a permanent exhibition on the life and work of Dylan Thomas, as well as a restaurant and bar, a bookshop cafe, conference rooms and a theatre.
The centre houses the permanent ‘Man and Myth’ exhibition, based on the largest collection of memorabilia of its kind in the world. It is designed to appeal to the Dylan expert and interested visitor alike. This interactive exhibition explores Dylan’s life and work through a variety of media and includes letters, books, worksheets and photographs.
The Dylan Thomas Centre is home to a year-round programme of literary events, including book launches, plays, poetry evenings, changing exhibitions and science talks. It hosts the annual Dylan Thomas Festival held between Dylan’s birth and death dates, 27 October to 9 November.
The Dylan Thomas Centre’s staff also provide a variety of talks and tours, such as talks on aspects of Dylan’s life and works, on contemporary literature, on writing poetry and on cultural tourism.
In 2012 a large part of the centre was leased by Swansea's council to the University of Wales with the prurpose of using it as a business centre for creative industries. This move was opposed by more than 200 writers and artists, including writer Russell T. Davies and Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, who believed the centre should be run as a trust.
Famous quotes containing the words dylan thomas, dylan, thomas and/or centre:
“Through throats where many rivers meet, the curlews cry,
Under the conceiving moon, on the high chalk hill,
And there this night I walk in the white giant’s thigh
Where barrren as boulders women lie longing still
To labour and love though they lay down long ago.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”
—Bob Dylan [Robert Allen Zimmerman] (b. 1941)
“The land of my fathers. My fathers can have it.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“Freedom to think our own thoughts, freedom to utter them, freedom to live out the promptings of our inner life ultimated in this convention, was termed a monstrosity of the 19th century. What was it?—the legitimate out-birth of the eternal law of progress. This reformation underlies every other; it is the only healthful centre around which hope of humanity can revolve.”
—Harriot K. Hunt (1805–1875)