Audio: Jo Furber on Dylan Thomas and why you should visit Wales

View from the Dylan Thomas Walk, LaugharneLiterary Tourist in WalesYes, the background voices are distracting, but what do you expect, we're in a Welsh pub for crying out loud! Well, actually we're upstairs at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea at a bar surrounded by revellers who have just attended a hilarious poetry vs burlesque mashup (featuring an appearance by Queen Victoriaquite an appearance,there were even balloons)down the hallway in the Centre's theatre. So everyone is pretty frisky. The performance kicked off the annual Dylan Thomas Festival.Dylan Thomas expert Jo Furber is Swansea Council Literature Officer and curator of the Dylan Thomas Exhibition. She also sits on the board of the prestigious New Welsh Review, the country's foremost literary magazine in English.Listen as she fields every question I hurl at her, with racing car driver reflexes and dexterity. Here is everything you need to know about Thomas and how and why to visit Wales. If you happen to love his literature and poetry, even if you don't, you're sure to get caught up in the enthusiasm (be sure to listen for one of the revelers offering to buy me a drink, about mid-way through the conversation).For good measure, later on that evening, I also interviewed the then National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke. Things have died down a bit, but they're still fairly rowdy. Listen here if you're so inclined, as we talk about what's unique about Welsh poetry, the oldest living language in Europe, memorability, truth, Lear's Cordelia, Dylan Thomas's truth and exaggeration, the Welsh accent, Carol Ann Duffy, and the importance of imagination, creativity and music in education.Find more information on the Dylan Thomas Centre here, and on visiting Wales, here.