Project Description
Do Not Go Gentle, Poetry Café, London
Date:
Monday 14th May – 7p.m to 9p.m
Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street
London
WC2H 9BX
Dylan Thomas wrote the famous villanelle, ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ as he pleaded with his dying father to“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Surely, he could never have imagined how those words would be used over sixty-five years later. They have given a voice, and become a protest anthem, for those who feel oppressed and silenced.
To mark International Dylan Thomas Day 2018, the Do not go gentle evening will hear through Dylan Thomas’s own words his horror as he views the dreadfulness of the Great Depression, the rise of the far right, the horrors of living through war and its terrible consequences, as well as the inequalities of the rich and poor in society. This will be interspersed with contemporary poets, Patrick Cash and Mab Jones, whose own poetry has been used to challenge, protest and inspire change.
It will be hosted by Dylan Thomas’s granddaughter Hannah Ellis and include contributions from the actor Guy Masterson; Nicky Parker, Amnesty UK’s head of publishing, John Goodby, editor of The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas and the journalist and writer Hilly Janes whose biography, The Three Lives of Dylan Thomas, will be launched in a new paperback edition at the event.
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