Dylan Thomas: Waliser. Dichter. Trinker.

Name of traveller

Elke Heidenreich (b. 1943), Tom Krausz (b. 1951)

Reason for travel

• travelling in the footsteps of Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)

Date of travel

undated, but images allow an estimated dated date for late 1990s to early 2000s

Wales ist zerklüftet, wild, von herber Schönheit. Man landet in der Hauptstadt Cardiff, Dylan Thomas' Wordkaskaden im Kopf . . .. (Heidenreich 24)

Content

• art:
  • photographs taken on locations of Dylan Thomas's life
  • some photographs reused from an earlier travel account produced by the two authors
• customs: relative lack of Dylan Thomas merchandise
• industry:
  • shut-down factories as permanently visible remnants of industrial history of south Wales
  • comparison with Rhur Area in Germany
• literature:
  • contains poems by Dylan Thomas in English with their German translations
  • extracts from other writings in their German translations only, e.g. Under Milk Wood
  • references to artists, poets and singer-songwriters who took inspiration from Dylan Thomas
• people: biography of Dylan Thomas and important people in his life, e.g. Caitlin Thomas (1913-1994); aunt Annie and uncle Jack
• terrain:
  • co-dependence between Welsh land- and townscapes and Dylan Thomas
  • rugged beauty of Welsh landscape
  • Wales described as essentially poor and un-cosy
  • placing Dylan Thomas's writing in the landscape of south Wales
• transport: travel via airplane and car

Nationality of traveller

German

Language of publication

German, English

Gender of traveller

Male, Female

Type of publication

illustrated biography; travelogue

Citation

Heidenreich, Elke and Tom Krausz. Dylan Thomas: Waliser. Dichter. Trinker. Munich: Knesebeck, 2011. Print.