Dylan Thomas is one of our most well known and most celebrated writers. He celebrated Wales in both his work and his life and has left behind some of the best known poems of the 20th century, including "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night".
Dylan Thomas had a bittersweet relationship with Swansea, the 'ugly, lovely town' in which he was born and raised. Swansea is now home to the Dylan Thomas Centre which is a focal point for studies and events based around the life and work of the poet himself. The Centre has a permanent exhibition on Dylan Thomas and his life and hosts the annual Dylan Thomas Festival during October and November.
Today the Dylan Thomas prize is awarded every two years to recognise the best published writer in English under the age of 30 from anywhere in the world.
Prolific writer Alexander Cordell took his inspiration from the people and places of South Wales, and in particular the town of Blaenafon. He particularly loved this part of Wales where he lived for many years and wrote his best selling novel 'Rape of the Fair Country' (since translated into 17 different languages). Through detailed research and his evocative writings he immortalised the people who lived and worked during the Industrial Revolution.
Alexander was proud of his work and wanted people to experience first hand the buildings, landscape and places that inspired him to document a lasting reminder of a land rich in culture and heritage.
Owen Sheers. A talented poet, writer and most recently a novelist Owen has been described 'as one of the most exciting talents around'. Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji, but has spent his childhood in Abergavenny. Wales is home to Sheers.
Owen's first novel, Resistance is set in a Welsh valley. It tells the story of a remote Welsh village in an imagined alternative 1944, after the fall of Russia and failed D-Day landings.
Owen is currently a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library.
Jan Morris has travelled to every corner of the earth, yet it is 'the damp, demanding and obsessively interesting country' of Wales which remains her first love.
She has been many things. A soldier, a journalist, a travel writer and a historian. In 1953 she secured one of the century's great scoops - a report of the conquest of Everest. An author of more than 40 books, she has been called the pre-eminent travel writer of our time. In January 2008 The Times named her the 15th greatest British writer since the War
Jan Morris is a woman of Wales. Of all her achievements, one of her proudest has been her election as a member of the 'Gorsedd of bards' - Wales's cultural elite. When Jan writes about her beloved Wales the reader has a sense of being there too.
Internationally renowned childrens book writer Roald Dahl was born in Cardiff in 1916 to Norwegian parents. His famous works include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda which have since been made into feature length movies and watched by millions across the world.
Today, to honour his successes we hold an annual Roald Dahl birthday party for children at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff.
Best selling author Ken Follett was born in Cardiff in 1949 and started his career as a reporter for the South Wales Echo. His novel 'The Eye of the Needle' won the Edger Award in 1979. More recently he published 'The Pillars of the Earth' which was on The New York Times bestseller list for 18 weeks and the German bestseller list for 6 years!