Roald Dahl & Dylan Thomas — Great Welsh Writers (Years 4-6)

Great Welsh writers

1. 1 Roald Dahl (1916-1990) Born in Llandaff, Cardiff (to Norwegian parents). Educated in England. RAF pilot in WWII. Then one of the world's most successful children's writers. Lived most of his adult life in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
2. 2 Roald Dahl's major works James and the Giant Peach (1961). Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964). Danny the Champion of the World (1975). The BFG (1982). Matilda (1988). The Witches (1983). All feature children who triumph over unkind adults.
3. 3 Dahl's voice Told from the child's perspective, with children who are resourceful and capable. Villainous adults. Inventive language (scrumdiddlyumptious, whizzpopping). Dark humour. The Roald Dahl Museum is in Great Missenden.
4. 4 Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) Born in Swansea. The most celebrated Welsh-language poet writing in English. Known for his rich, musical language and passionate readings of his work. Died in New York at 39, largely from alcoholism.
5. 5 Dylan Thomas's major works Under Milk Wood (1954 — a play for voices set in the fictional Welsh village of Llareggub, rhyming backwards). Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night (poem, 1951 — written for his dying father). Poem in October. Fern Hill.
6. 6 Thomas and Wales Swansea and the Gower Peninsula deeply influenced his writing. His childhood, Welsh speech rhythms, and landscapes are embedded in his work. The Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea and Laugharne (where he lived) are pilgrimage sites.
7. 7 Two kinds of Welshness Dahl was Welsh by birth, English by education, cosmopolitan in outlook. Thomas was Welsh by language, landscape, and community. Both are claimed by Wales. Both show how diverse Welsh identity is.