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:
“It was my thirtieth year to heaven
Woke to my hearing from harbor and neighbor wood”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“When I first heard Elvis’s voice I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody and nobody was gonna be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.”
—Bob Dylan [Robert Allen Zimmerman] (b. 1941)
“He holds the wire from this box of nerves
Praising the moral error
Of birth and death, the two sad knaves of thieves,
And the hunger’s emperor;
He pulls the chain, the cistern moves.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“The great God absolute! The centre and circumference of all democracy! His omnipresence, our divine equality!”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)