Two thousand workshops will take place for ages 7-16, in English and in Welsh, in schools across Wales from now until July 2014. Literature Wales has launched their Developing Dylan creative writing workshops, which form part of the Dylan Thomas 100 Festival.
The workshops will gift children and young people throughout Wales with the opportunity to explore their own creativity through Dylan’s words, and it comes at an opportune moment following Professor Dai Smith’s recent report on the arts in education with its recommendation that the arts should be used to deliver improved literacy and numeracy.
Developing Dylan is an exemplary way of engaging the arts in inspiring learning and supporting literacy. The project is funded by the Welsh Government and supported by the Department for Education and Skills.
Education Minister Huw Lewis AM said: “Developing an interest in literature from an early age is an essential part of inspiring our young people to write and create their own stories.
“Literacy is a skill needed throughout a person’s life and it’s extremely important we develop and refine this skill. It’s for that reason, improving standards of literacy is at the heart of my raising standards and performance across the board here in Wales.
The Developing Dylan programme is so important in sparking an interest in some of our most exciting and thought provoking literature and that’s why we’re providing funding of £241,000 over two years to deliver the programme.
I’m delighted to see the first workshops underway and I’m sure the benefits and lessons learned from Dylan Thomas’ work will be invaluable in encouraging our young people to not only love books and poetry, but to write their own works themselves.”
A showcase of one of the workshops – for Key Stage 4 pupils – took place at Fitzalan High School, Cardiff on 9 October. Education Minister Huw Lewis AM and Chair of Literature Wales’ Board, Damian Walford Davies opened the event and introduced the workshop, which was led by celebrated Welsh writer, Cynan Jones. Cynan is the author of works including The Long Dry (Parthian), Everything I found on the Beach (Parthian), Bird, Blood, Snow (Seren) and The Dig (Granta Books), shortlisted for the 2013 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award.
Cynan Jones says: “Few writers write about childhood quite as well as Dylan Thomas. Hopefully, using his work, the Developing Dylan project will keep children fired up by reading, remind them to keep seeing the world through their own eyes, and perhaps even trigger them to start writing things down themselves. More than anything, I hope we can remind those who take part in the one hour workshops of the vitality of books, and what we can get from them. As Dylan would have it: ‘My education was the liberty I had to read indiscriminately and all the time, with my eyes hanging out.’ “
Dylan Thomas’ granddaughter Hannah Ellis was also present at the launch. A passionate advocate of the use of her grandfather’s work within schools, Hannah has widely championed Developing Dylan: “The workshops will captivate and delight children. They can experiment and play with language, discover how magical each and every word is, and sneak through the doors of the ‘two storied houses’, and learn about the secrets that lie beyond.”
The Developing Dylan workshops have been developed for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 and reflect current curriculum requirements in Wales, including those of the National Literacy and Numeracy Framework. The Key Stage 4 / post-14 workshop is specifically linked to GCSE Welsh / English Literature course requirements for creative writing. The workshops, interactive resources and teaching packs for schools have been developed in partnership with Canolfan Peniarth. The workshops will be conducted by a selection of writers and poets including Cynan Jones, Eurig Salisbury, Dan Anthony, Jemma L King, Sian Northey, Robert Nisbet, Mab Jones, Gary Raymond and Meirion Macintyre Huws.
Literature Wales Chief Executive, Lleucu Siencyn says: “Literature Wales believes passionately in encouraging children and young people to raise their voices and tell their stories. We are delighted that such a broad mixture of new and established writers will deliver these workshops in schools, and that the teaching packs created by Canolfan Peniarth will include interactive resources and development ideas for teachers after the writer’s visit.”
