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Vernon Watkins - 1906 - 1967

Alfred Janes, Portrait of Vernon Watkins 1949 © Ross Janes and Hilly JanesDylan's friendship with Vernon began in 1935 when Vernon bought a copy of the recently published 18 Poems and then went to visit Dylan at 5, Cwmdonkin Drive. Vernon worked at Lloyds Bank in Swansea, writing poetry in the evenings and on weekends.

His collections include The Ballad of Mari Llwyd and Other Poems (1941), Selected Poems (1948), The Death Bell and Other Poems (1954), Affinities (1962), Uncollected Poems (1969) and LMNTRE Poems, published by the Dylan Thomas Centre in 1999.

He and Dylan corresponded throughout Dylan's life, and these letters were published alongside Vernon's revealing commentary in 1957. A collection, Poems for Dylan, was published in 2003. His widow, Gwen Watkins, has written a study of Vernon and Dylan's friendship, Portrait of a Friend, was reprinted in the autumn of 2005.