Aeronwy Bryn Thomas-Ellis (3 March 1943 – 27 July 2009) was a poet, writer and translator of

Italian poetry Italian poetry is a category of Italian literature. Italian poetry has its origins in the thirteenth century and has heavily influenced the poetic traditions of many European languages, including that of English. Features * Italian prosody is ...

. She was the second child and only daughter of the Welsh poet

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

and his wife,

Caitlin Macnamara Caitlin Thomas (née Macnamara; 8 December 1913 – 31 July 1994) was an author and the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fueled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until Dyl ...

Life

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Thomas was named after the

River Aeron The River Aeron () is a small river in Ceredigion, Wales, that flows into Cardigan Bay at Aberaeron. It is also referred to on some older maps as the River Ayron. Etymology The name of the river means "battle" or "slaughter" and derives from th ...

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, the banks of which are near the home of her parents. She had two brothers, Llewelyn and Colm. In 1942 and 1943, they lived intermittently in Plas Gelli,

Talsarn Talsarn is a hamlet in the community of Nantcwnlle, Ceredigion, Wales. It lies some 16 miles (26 km) south of Aberystwyth, 64 miles (103 km) north-west of Cardiff, and 178 miles (286 km) from London. It is situated almost half-wa ...

. Between September 1944 and July 1945, Thomas lived with her parents in a bungalow called Majoda, which overlooks the sea in

New Quay New Quay () is a seaside town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales; it had a resident population of 1,045 at the 2021 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth, on Cardigan Bay with a harbour and large sandy beaches, the town ...

, Cardiganshire. In May 1949, the family moved to the Boat House,

Laugharne Laugharne () is a town on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf. The Ancient borough#Charters, ancient borough of Laugharne Township () with its #Laugharne Corporation, Corporation and Charter is a ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, Wales. At the age of 10, Thomas was enrolled by her mother at the Arts Educational School in

Tring, Hertfordshire Tring is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central ...

which is now

Tring Park School for the Performing Arts Tring Park School or Tring Park School for the Performing Arts is a co-educational, independent day and boarding school in Tring, Hertfordshire, England. The school combines academia with vocational courses in the performing arts for pupils ag ...

. She was at Dartington Hall School in Devon for one year in 1958. After her father's death in 1953, she and her mother went to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, later moving to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

after her mother began a relationship with her long-term partner Giuseppe Fazio. Thomas earned a bachelor's degree in English and comparative religion at Isleworth College, as well as a

TEFL Teaching English as a second (TESL) or foreign language (TEFL) and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are terms that refer to teaching English to students whose first language is not English. The terms TEFL, TESL, and TESO ...

diploma at Woking Adult Education College. In 2003 she was awarded an honorary fellowship from the

University of Wales, Swansea Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

Career

After learning

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, she became a translator of Italian poetry. She was also known for being an ambassador for her father's work, and as a patron of the Dylan Thomas Society. She was the President of the Alliance of Literary Societies. A much sought-after visiting professor in schools and universities in the UK and abroad, in the late 1990s she was highly popular with the students of Giuseppe Perotti School in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy, for her

distance-learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

"creative writing" courses. In 2007 she became President of Immagine & Poesia (Image and Poetry), an artistic literary movement founded at Teatro Alfa in Turin.

Personal life

She and her husband Trefor Ellis had two children: a son, Huw Dylan, and a daughter, Hannah.

Death

Aeronwy Thomas died of cancer on 27 July 2009 in

New Malden New Malden is a suburban area in southwest London, England. It is within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Norb ...

, London, aged 66.

Works

*''Later than Laugharne'' (Celtion, 1976) *''Christmas and Other Memories'' (Amwy Press, 1978) *''Poems and Memories'' (Pedrini, Turin) *''Christmas in the Boathouse'' (2003) *''Rooks and Poems'' (Poetry Monthly Press, 2004) *''A daughter remembers Dylan'' (Merton Books, 2006) – an expanded version of the booklet ''Christmas and Other Memories'' *''I Colori Delle Parole'' (Rotaract, 2007) – includes poems by Aeronwy Thomas and paintings by Gianpiero Actis (in Italian and English) *''Away With Words'' – an anthology of poetry – includes poems by Aeronwy Thomas, Beryl Myers, Anne Taylor, Frances White (Poetry Monthly Press, 2007) *''Burning Bridges'' (Cross-Cultural Communications, Merrick, New York, 2008) *''Shadows and Shades – Selected Poems'' (Poetry Monthly Press, 2009) *''My Father's Places'' (Constable, 2009) * ''Nightwatch'' (17 poems) in ''Poet to Poet #3'' (The Seventh Quarry, 2010)

References

External links

*
Wales Online obitTimesOnline obituary

Aeronwy Thomas reading poetry on PoetCasting Aeronwy Thomas and her artistic-literary Movement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Aeronwy Deaths from cancer in England People from Carmarthenshire Writers from Surrey 1943 births 2009 deaths English people of Welsh descent British people of Irish descent People educated at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts People educated at Dartington Hall School 20th-century Welsh poets 21st-century Welsh poets People of Anglo-Irish descent British writers