A publisher and Italian translator has claimed that Dylan Thomas was a serial plagiarist as a schoolboy, identifying at least a dozen poems he allegedly stole from other writers. Alessandro Gallenzi, a lifelong admirer of the Welsh poet, argues in an essay for the Times Literary Supplement that Thomas copied works published in his school magazine and local newspaper.
Gallenzi says he has found 10 poems in the Swansea Grammar School magazine and two in the Herald of Wales that were “audacious rip-offs” of other authors. The poems were published between December 1926 and July 1931, when Thomas was aged 12 to 16. Gallenzi claims that “His Repertoire”, attributed to Thomas in 1926, is an almost verbatim reproduction of “The Only Piece He Knew” by Archibald JA Wilson, which appeared in Boy’s Own Paper.
Other alleged plagiarisms include “The Second Best” by Helen Elrington and “The Watchers” by Charles Ingram Stanley, both from the same periodical. Gallenzi states that Thomas did not simply draw inspiration but stole the work wholesale, sometimes changing only the title or a few words. He and his team suspect another dozen poems may also have been lifted, bringing the total to 24.
Gallenzi told The Times that the discovery was “shocking” and “upsetting”, but he does not believe it will ruin Thomas’s reputation. He suggests the young poet may have been seeking approval from his father, a severe English master at the school. Geoff Haden, who runs the Dylan Thomas Birthplace, called the findings “very significant” and agreed with the theory that Thomas was desperate for paternal recognition.
Despite the plagiarism, Gallenzi remains an admirer of Thomas’s later work, including Under Milk Wood and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”. The disputed poems will appear in a new edition of Thomas’s poetry published by Alma Books later this month, under a section titled “The Plagiarised and Dubious Poems”. Gallenzi says the evidence will “revolutionise our thinking of Dylan Thomas’s formative years”.
