This year, to mark the centenary of Dylan Thomas’s birth, we are privileged to publish Gillian Clarke’s story The Christmas Wren, written in response to Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Commissioned by the Dylan Thomas Centre, the story is for adults and children, and is a magical tale of the Christmases of a Welsh childhood populated by aunts and uncles, snow and starlight, boxes and baubles. Gillian Clarke is a leading poet, and was appointed National Poet for Wales in 2008.
The Christmas Wren is a masterpiece and is destined to become a classic. - Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate Colour illustrations throughout by Lotte Beatrix Crawford.