'A saint about to fall': reflections on poetry and the study of Dylan Thomas
Join Professor John Goodby, as he explores the vivid life and legacy of Dylan Thomas, one of the twentieth century's most memorable and compelling lyric poets.
Thomas is still best known for his wild lifestyle and as the author of lyrics such as 'Fern Hill' and 'Do not go gentle into that good night', and of Under Milk Wood. Yet his popular reputation is in many ways a partial and misleading one, disguising the true scope and nature of his achievement.
Tracing his own personal journey through Thomas's work over more than two decades, John will reveal Thomas's roots as a radically experimental artist, and examine their relation to the maverick persona of legend. Thomas's unique versatility in elite and popular cultural forms, and his gifts as both a serious and comic writer, will be related to his hybrid Anglo-Welsh origins and troubled, often apocalyptic times.
In doing so, John will draw out some of the parallels between Thomas's historical contexts and his literary concerns - with revolution, gender roles, surrealism, the threat of fascism and war, ecological destruction - and those of our own era, in order to suggest what significance his potent example might have for us today.
Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of Dylan Thomas and his impact on literature and culture.
About Professor John Goodby
I was born and grew up in Birmingham and attended Hull (BA) and Leeds (MA, PhD) Universities. I'm a lecturer, critic, poet, translator and literature event organiser, and I taught at universities in Leeds, Cork and Swansea before arriving at Hallam in 2020.
My research has been largely in the anglophone poetries of Ireland, Wales, England and North America, and most recently the work of Dylan Thomas, on whose work I am an international authority. But I have broader interests in European, Latin American and classical Chinese literatures, while my own poetry - published by Shearsman, Faber, Arc, ZimZalla, Red Ceilings and other small presses - reflects my catholic tastes and a formally experimental approach to writing.
Between 2009-2012 I ran the Hay Jam Poetry Festival with Lyndon Davies, and I currently co-organize the York Alternative Poetry (YAP) series at The Golden Ball pub in York.
