This week our poetry news round up looks at plagiarism linked to Dylan Thomas, the sale of the pub where William Blake was arrested and the protected status of a hotel where Wilfred Owen recuperated.
As a Schoolboy Dylan Thomas “Plagiarised Other Poets”
According to a publicist and author who has been looking at early works by Dylan Thomas, the poet copied the work of other poets and had them published as his own when he was a schoolboy.
The shocking discovery was made by Alessandro Gallenzi whilst he was editing a new collection of poetry by Thomas. In 1925 as an 11-year-old Thomas joined the Swansea Grammar School magazine and was an enthusiastic contributor. However, a dozen examples have been found where it appears he copied work that had been published in other magazines.
The discovery was made when Gallenzi’s editor was given access to a collection of school magazines owned by a private collector. Once the poems had been transcribed and looked at in depth, they discovered that there were at least 12 poems that fall into this category however they believe there may be as many as 20-24. Whilst the majority of these poems were in the school magazine, they also discovered that His Requiem which was published in the Western Mail newspaper in 1927 had previously been submitted and published in the Boy’s Own Paper by Lillian Gard five years previously. There was also a poem that Thomas had published in Boy’s Own which they had already published 15 years before.
This discover raises many questions about Thomas and why he might have done such a thing, and also how he was able to get away with it. Gallenzi’s theory is that perhaps he was trying to fit in having moved to a new school where his father who taught English and had ambitions for him was a huge presence. It is important to note that at this time the young Thomas had already started to write his own poetry.
The plagiarised works have been placed in an appendix for the forthcoming collection which is titled “Dylan Thomas – The Complete Poems”.
Pub with Connections to William Blake on the Market
The Fox Inn in Bognor Regis where the poet William Blake was taken under arrest in 1803 has gone on the market for offers of over £1.48 million.
The unique history of the pub, which was a local for Blake who lived in the area from 1800 to 1803, saw Blake arrested for his part in a fight that took place with a drunken soldier. He was accused of sedition and is alleged to have shouted “Damn the King” during an argument with a solder who had trespassed into the front garden.
The pub boasts 2 blue plaques, one for Blake and the other for George Morland, a painter, who lived in the pub for a time and painted a ship on the wall of the inn in lieu of late rent payments.
Hotel Linked to Wilfred Owen Given Protection
The Clifton Hotel in Scarborough, where Wilfred Owen recuperated whilst recovering from shellshock has been offered listed protection as a building of “special historic interest” and “intrinsic architectural merit.”
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