We like to celebrate our love of arts and literature. Hay-on-Wye in mid Wales is home to the world’s most famous literary and arts festival. When Bill Clinton came to town, he called it ‘the Woodstock of the mind’.
The famous poet Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea in South Wales in 1914. His poems and short stories, and in particular his play Under Milk Wood, work best when read out loud. 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. In 2014 there will be celebrations in Wales and throughout the World to mark the 100 year anniversity of the writer's birth. See the DT100 website for more information.
More recent writers to come from Wales include children’s favourite Roald Dahl, who wrote Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Ken Follett who wrote The Pillars of the Earth.
The National Museum in Cardiff is the home of the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings outside Paris. Entry to see the collection, which includes Renoir’s famous Blue Lady, La Parisienne, Rodin’s The Kiss and Monet’s Waterlilies paintings, is free.
The Artes Mundi Prize is held here every two years and is one of the largest visual art prizes in the world. The international prize celebrates and recognises artists across the globe.
Find out more about our writers, museums and cultural events in the links below.