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Dylan Thomas | especially when the October wind

An Arts Council of Wales funded project, 2003

To mark the 50th anniversary of Dylan Thomas’ death, twelve Wales-based Printmakers responded to Dylan Thomas’ poem, ‘especially when the October wind’ – a poem with particular resonance to the Swansea landscape, the town of his birth and source of inspiration.

Each artist produced a limited edition [100] of their print to create a boxed set of twelve prints. The prints were printed on specially commissioned paper from the Wookey Hole Papermill, Somerset, with the paper moulds supplied by Aimes & Son Ltd., Coxheath, Kent.

The boxed sets are custom-made and handcrafted with embossed copper motifs of DylanThomas’ signature made at the Fine Bindery, Northampton.

All prints are fully authenticated and the box contains a colophon signed by Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan Thomas’s daughter. 

Additionally the colophon contains a copy of the poem, an essay by the writer, poet and translator, Malcolm Parr entitled ‘That Momentary Peace’, in which he explores the links between genius, imagination and the written word. Malcolm Parr, who also opened the exhibition in The Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea, has individually signed each of these inserts, as has Andrew Davies, Assembly Member, Welsh Assembly Government, who wrote the foreword to this unique edition.

Following a preview show at the Welsh Assembly’s Wales Week in the Theatre du Residence Palace, Brussels, an exhibition of the prints was launched by Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan Thomas’s daughter in 2003 at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea.

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Further exhibitions followed throughout Wales, including the National Eisteddfod in Meifod in August 2003 and The National Library of Wales in January 2004 and the work was on display in Hay as part of that year’s Hay Festival of Literature.

The set was selected for display by the Welsh Assembly Government in their newly opened offices in The Chrysler Building, New York, USA.

The prints were on display for one year and were featured as part of the St David’s Day celebrations in New York City in March 2004. More recently, in 2007, as part of a cultural exchange, the prints were exhibited in Alhambra Arts Centre, Lahore, Pakistan.

A set of the prints was given to the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea and is now part of the permanent collection, displayed in the main hall.

Special Hors Commerce editions are in the collections of the 6 UK and Ireland National Libraries: The British Library; The Bodleian Library, Oxford; The University Library, Cambridge; The National Library of Scotland; The Library of Trinity College, Dublin; The National Library of Wales. In 2013 an edition was added to the Poetry Collection of the University of Buffalo, New York.

THE ARTISTS | Sheila Clark | Lucy Donald | Elissa Evans | Jackie Ford | Sally Hands | Sarah Hopkins | Sue Kelsall | Ruth Parmiter | Judith Stroud | Ceri Thomas | Peter Visscher | Alan Williams

More information and images of this project can be seen on our dedicated Dylan Thomas Prints website, beautifully designed by Ridler Webster

The exhibition is also available for touring. All enquiries and to book please contact Jackie Ford.

For the first time we are offering the opportunity to buy individual prints from this publication at £100 each.

All 12 original prints of the set are available in a prestigious box set with colophon signed by Aeronwy Thomas as a collectors item at the very competitive price of £825.

Read about our other Dylan Thomas inspired project, and view the prints on Dylan Thomas Dialogues.

DYLAN THOMAS | especially when the October wind | 2003
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