Readings at a favourite pub haunt of Dylan Thomas in London; performances, a walk, jazz, talks and film in his birthplace Swansea; and events in New York, Australia, and Italy will all form part of this year’s International Dylan Thomas Day celebrations.

The first ‘Dylan Day’ took place two years ago, and is now held annually on 14 May, the date Under Milk Wood was first read on stage at the Poetry Centre in New York in 1953.

This year on 14 May activities include events around the Wheatsheaf Tavern in Fitzrovia, London, including Guy Masterson’s Under Milk Wood at 2pm, and the launch of John Goodby’s Discovering Dylan Thomas: A Companion to the Collected Poems and Notebook Poems (University of Wales Press). Hilly Janes will be reading from Ugly, Lovely (Parthian) at 5.30 pm.

In Swansea, the Dylan Thomas Society, Dylan Thomas Birthplace, and Dunvant Male Choir will perform ‘as I was young and easy’ - a journey through Dylan's life in words and music – the evening before, on 13 May at St James Church, Uplands, Swansea from 7pm. Activities in the area on 14 May include a walk led by Lighthouse theatre, drop-in family activities at the Dylan Thomas Centre, ‘Translating Dylan’ at the Dylan Thomas Birthplace, and culminating in an evening of jazz, poetry, talks, and film with Jeff Towns and company at Cinema & Co from 7pm.

Chirk castle, which has links with Thomas, will host a drop-in writing workshop from 11.30 am - 12.30 pm with Young People’s Laureate for Wales, Sophie McKeand. Sophie will be joined at 12.45 pm by National Poet of Wales, Ifor ap Glyn, and the pair will give a poetry reading in both Welsh and English.

New York will host an online recording of the Michael Sheen-led performance of Under Milk Wood at 92nd Street Y; guest speakers at the Sunken Hundred, featuring Welsh actor Matthew Rhys; and a live link-up between poets in New York, Wales, Portugal, Ireland, and Tranås in Sweden for a multi-nation poetry reading at the White Lion in Ferryside.

From Argentina / Patagonia, the British Council will be sharing a new video of their Under Milk Wood project; in Australia, there will be events run by Perth Poetry Club and The Dylan Thomas Society of Australia; and in Turin, Italy, there will be a day of lectures on Dylan Thomas and Bob Dylan.

Online, you will be able to view the selected entries from this year’s Love the Words cut-up poetry competition, as chosen by Dylan’s granddaughter Hannah Ellis, on her website