Date:

Saturday September 9th

Henry Miller LAB,
3728 The Barnyard,
Suite G-23,
Carmel,
United States

A DYLAN WEEKEND: “DYLAN THOMAS: SHINING LIGHT,” WITH PETER THABIT JONES

It’s a Dylan weekend at the Henry Miller LAB.
Join us on Saturday, September 9th at 4PM as acclaimed Welsh poet Peter Thabit Jones starts us off presenting:

“Dylan Thomas: Shining Light!”

A dear friend of the Library, Peter Thabit Jones was born in Swansea, Wales, in 1951. He is the author of sixteen books and his talk, “Dylan Thomas: Shining Light,” will explore Thomas’ famous poem “Do not go gentle into that good night” as well as how the poet achieved a kind of (Bob Dylan-esque) musicality to his work.

The title of his talk comes from a line by Thomas:

When only the moon rages
And the lovers lie abed
With all their griefs in their arms,
I labour by singing light…

The afternoon/evening will unfolds (something) like this:

4:00 Peter’s talk, “Dylan Thomas: Shining Light.”
5:15 Magnus Toren gives a short talk on the Nobel Prize in Literature. (Being from Sweden, Magnus has some inside sources!)
5:45 Break for dinner at one of the Barnyard’s fine establishments. (May we recommend Sur, Allegro, or Aabha Indian cuisine?)
7:00 Reconvene at the LAB for Dylan covers performed by local musicians and some deep tracks courtesy of DJ Britt Govea.
8:00 “Dylan and Dylan!” Ticketed event.
TBA Friday night, September 8: Open Mic stay tuned!

Indeed, Peter is a reservoir of knowledge of both Dylans. For example, he reminds us “You probably know, of course, that both Bob and Dylan Thomas are on the cover of The Beatles album Sergeant Pepper.”

It turns out that Dylan Thomas’ appearance on the Sgt Pepper cover was the choice of John Lennon. In The Beatles Anthology, Paul McCartney states: “I am sure that the main influence on both [Bob] Dylan and John [Lennon] was Dylan Thomas.

That’s why Bob’s not Bob Zimmerman – his real name. We all used to like Dylan Thomas. I read him a lot. I think that John started writing because of him.”

Peter is writer-in-residence in Big Sur, California, from July to September. Whilst there, he will work on a new book, AMERICA, AERONWY, AND ME, which will be published in 2018 on the tenth anniversary of his American tour with Aeronwy Thomas, organized by his New York publisher Stanley H. Barkan.

And what’s Mr. Zimmerman’s take on the whole issue? According to Peter, when reached for comment in 1966, Bob said, “I’ve done more for Dylan Thomas than he’s ever done for me.”

See you on September 9th at the Henry Miller LAB at 4 pm

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