David N. Thomas (born 1945) is a British writer. David Thomas was brought up in

Pontarddulais Pontarddulais (), also known as Pontardulais (), is both a community and a town in Swansea, Wales. It is northwest of the city centre. The Pontarddulais ward is part of the City and County of Swansea. Pontarddulais adjoins the village of Hendy i ...

and

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

in south Wales. He studied at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, Oxford, and the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, before working as a community worker in London. He was subsequently a lecturer at the

National Institute for Social Work The National Institute for Social Work Training was set up in 1961, following proposals put forward in the 1959 Eileen Younghusband report for an independent staff college for social work. Its initial funding was assured for ten years by the Nuffiel ...

and then Chief Executive at the Community Development Foundation. He was also a founder member of the European Community Development Network, and a

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

Fellow. He has published widely on

community development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...

, including ''Skills in Neighbourhood Work'', written with Paul Henderson. Thomas retired back to Wales in the early 1990s, and since then has written about the life and death of

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" ''Under ...

. He has published extensively about Thomas’ associations with both

New Quay New Quay ( cy, Cei Newydd) is a seaside town (and electoral ward) in Ceredigion, Wales, with a resident population of around 1,200 people, reducing to 1,082 at the 2011 census. Located south-west of Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay with a harbour a ...

Cardiganshire Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

(

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

), and the

Llansteffan Llansteffan, is a village and a community situated on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tywi, south of Carmarthen. Description The community includes Llanybri and is bordered by the communities of: L ...

peninsula in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

. His first book on Thomas, ''A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow'', was published in 2000. The film rights were sold to make

The Edge of Love ''The Edge of Love'' is a 2008 British biographical romantic drama film directed by John Maybury and starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys. The script was written by Knightley's mother, Sharman Macdonald. Origi ...

Selected Works on Dylan Thomas

''Dylan Thomas: A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow'', Seren, 2000 ''The Dylan Thomas Murders'', Seren, 2002. ''

Dylan Thomas Trail The Dylan Thomas Trail ( cy, Llwybr Dylan Thomas) runs through places associated with the poet Dylan Thomas in Ceredigion, west Wales. It was officially opened by Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan's daughter, in July 2003. It also featured in the celebrat ...

'', Y Lolfa, 2002 ''Dylan Remembered 1914–1934'', vol 1, Seren, 2003 ''Dylan Remembered 1935–1953'', vol 2, Seren, 2004 ''Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas?'', Seren, 2008 ''The Death of Dylan Thomas'', in the ''Western Mail'', November 1, 2008 ''Dylan Thomas and The Edge of Love'', in ''Cambria'', February 2013 ''A True Childhood: Dylan's Peninsularity'', in ''Dylan Thomas: A Centenary Celebration'', ed. by Hannah Ellis, Bloomsbury, 2014Review: ''Irish Examiner'' September 7, 2014 ''A Postcard from New Quay'' in ''Dylan Thomas: A Centenary Celebration'', ed. by Hannah Ellis, Bloomsbury, 2014

References

External links

* https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/nov/27/books.booksnews * https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/0/24748894 * http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/wales/archive/bbc-mid-wales-books-david-thomas-interview.pdf * https://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/books/gilding-the-legend-285124.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, David N 1945 births Living people