An international day to celebrate the life and work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, held each year on 14th May, the anniversary of the date when Under Milk Wood was first read on stage at 92Y The Poetry Center, New York in 1953.

“International Dylan Thomas Day gives us a chance each year to celebrate Dylan Thomas’s achievements. There is still the enthusiasm for a national day to mark my grandfather’s life and legacy and we want to keep May 14th as a prominent date on the literary calendar.

Dylan Thomas’s writing has travelled through time – it is as relevant today in our troubled times as when it was written sixty-five years ago. It continues to travel across the globe reaching new audiences everyday. His poetry lives on.

We invite you to tell us about how you are going to mark the day and encourage you, wholeheartedly, to get involved and to love the words.” — Hannah Ellis

For 2023 we hope you’ll join in the celebration by taking part in our Dylan Thomas Photography Competition. Make a photograph, short video or artwork inspired by the words of Dylan Thomas, and get ready to share it on your Twitter or Instagram account, or on the Dylan Thomas 100 Facebook page.

This year, to mark the 70th anniversary of the first performance of Under Milk Wood, we’d love you to use words from Dylan’s masterpiece as your inspiration.

On Sunday May 14th please share your image along with a quotation from Dylan Thomas using the hashtags #MyMilkWood and #DylanDay

We’ll share our favourites on social media and feature them on a blog for the Discover Dylan Thomas website. Dylan’s granddaughter Hannah Ellis will chose her favourite image and the winner will receive a prize.

Good luck!

Download a PDF of the details.

Love the Words 2023: Dream

‘Love the Words’ is an annual celebration of the magic and power of words, and is part of International Dylan Thomas Day which takes place on May 14 each year.

For our latest contest, Love the Words invites people of any age, anywhere in the world, to send a poem of up to 40 lines on the theme of ‘dream’.

This year’s theme is inspired by the 70th anniversary of the first performance of Under Milk Wood, the seminal ‘play for voices’ which offers up the dreams and innermost thoughts of a number of Dylan’s most beloved characters.

As a result, your poem could be about a dream, or a daydream; it could address dreams that are personal desires, or more general wishes for the world at large; it could show us the dreams and thoughts of a famous person, living or historical, or of an animal, object, place, or plant. It’s up to you how you explore the theme, as long as ‘dreams’ are touched on in some way. Be as imaginative, observational, realistic, or surreal, as you like!

The competition will be judged by the creative director of Dylan Day, Hannah Ellis, who is Dylan’s grand-daughter, and former Dylan Day coordinator and poet, Mab Jones.

The competition opens on Monday March 6 and closes on Saturday May 6 at midnight (GMT), and it is open to anyone, any age, anywhere in the world.

You may enter as many times as you like. We would ask you to put your poem in the body of an email – not in an attachment – and also to put ‘Love the Words’ as the subject of your email. We’d like to know your full name, the country you are writing from, and your age (we will only publish the ages of winners who are 21 or under). Please send your poem(s) to: infinitybooksuk@gmail.com

Winners will be announced on the Discover Dylan Thomas website on Dylan Day, 14 May. Winners will receive print books and ebooks from Parthian Books and Infinity Books UK.

Please note that copyright of the poems remains with the authors, although by taking part you grant us permission to share your poems in our social media, on the Discover Dylan Thomas website, and in our publicity relating to Dylan Day and the competition.

As always, we encourage you to share your poetry on social media, either as an image of your entire poem, the whole poem, or an extract from it. Simply use the hashtags #LovetheWords and #DylanDay, and we will reshare as many as we can in the lead up to the celebration.

“I think, that if I touched the earth,

It would crumble;

It is so sad and beautiful,

So tremulously like a dream.”

– from Dylan Thomas, Clown in the Moon

One of the highlights of International Dylan Thomas Day is the award ceremony for the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize. The winner will be announced at the final awards ceremony on Thursday 11th May 2023

Launched in 2006, the annual Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for young writers, aimed at encouraging raw creative talent worldwide. It celebrates and nurtures international literary excellence. The £20,000 Prize is awarded to the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under. Click here to find out more.

DylanEd 

The International Dylan Thomas Prize has worked extensively over many years with school, college and university students. The DylanED Programme was established to ensure the development of this aspect of the Prize and to work alongside the talented writers of Swansea and Wales. Click here to find out more.

Click here for some ideas for places to visit on International Dylan Thomas Day.

Dylan Day is a time each year to remember and celebrate Dylan Thomas. You can find out more about his work, life and places in many interesting ways.

You can visit museums and exhibitions and stay in curious dwellings associated with Dylan Thomas. Find out more by going to our Places page.

If you enjoy exploring new areas there are many entertaining self guided tours where you can discover Dylan’s places from the quaint Welsh sea towns that inspired Under Milk Wood to the arty pubs in busy, bustling cities around the world. Find out more by going to our Walking Trails and apps and e-books pages.

If you want to discover, or rediscover the work of Dylan Thomas we encourage you to do so. Find out more by going to our Books and Recordings and Audio and Video pages.

If you are a teacher or educator, we have resources you are welcome to utilise. Find out more by going to our Education page.