Poet Dylan Thomas marries Caitlin Macnamara

July 11, 1937

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas marries Caitlin Macnamara, 23, in Penzance, Cornwall.
Thomas was born and raised in Swansea, Wales, where he was a poor student. He dropped out of school at age 16 and became a newspaper reporter. Before he turned 20, he won a newspaper poetry contest. His first book, Eighteen Poems, was published in 1934, followed by Twenty-Five Poems in 1936.
At age 21, Thomas moved to London, where he met Caitlin Macnamara in a pub. Although the lively Irish girl did not initially find him attractive, his charm won her over, and the pair married the following year.
Their happiness was short-lived. He immediately suspected her of infidelity and wrote several poems to that effect. Meanwhile, both drank heavily, caused scenes in public places, and fell into debt. Despite their tumultuous relationship, they had three sons. Thomas published several highly acclaimed books, including Deaths and Entrances in 1946 and Collected Poems in 1953. His powerful style, combining compassion and violence, made his readings in the U.S. a success. However, during his several tours of the U.S. from 1950 to 1953, he drank recklessly. In 1953, he collapsed at the White Horse Inn on Hudson Street in New York City and died.
Caitlin drank more than ever after his death. Eventually, she met and fell in love with a Sicilian film-production worker, Giuseppe Fazio, who helped her stop drinking. She had a son with Fazio when she was 49. She wrote several books herself, including Leftover Life to Kill (1957) and Life with Dylan Thomas (1986). She remained intensely bitter toward Thomas until her death at age 80.