The Books Council and the Distribution Centre will be closed from Thursday afternoon,
21 December 2023 and will re-open after the holidays on Tuesday, 2 January 2024.
We wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas.
The Books Council of Wales has today (7 December) announced the successful recipients of the English-language Cultural Periodicals Grant for 2024–28.
The grant, which is funded by Welsh Government through Creative Wales, is awarded as new, standalone funding every four years following an open competitive tender process. The tender was advertised in May, with interviews taking place in November 2023. Grants are awarded by an independent panel following a rigorous application and interview process.
The Books Council is pleased to be funding the following titles for the next franchise period:
Nation.Cymru – £25,000 per year for cultural content including book reviews and providing a digital free at the point of use platform for the publishing sector in Wales.
The Paper (@thepaperwales) – £10,000 per year plus a £10,000 start up grant during 2023/24. For providing a new platform for younger underrepresented writers, with a particular focus on working class writers.
Poetry Wales – £25,000 per year for providing a print and digital poetry magazine.
Welsh Agenda – £25,000 per year for cultural content including book reviews and providing a print and online platform for the publishing sector in Wales.
Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Books Council of Wales said: “We are pleased to be able to fund a number of excellent publications in this franchise round, including a new title, The Paper. There was, as expected, a very high level of interest in the grant, with the total applications amounting to more than double the £180,000 available. I would like to congratulate all the recipients on their success in what was a very competitive and rigorous process, with difficult decisions for the panel awarding the grant.
Following the conclusion of the interviews and communication of the panel’s decisions to all applicants in November, we anticipate that the Sub-committee will be looking to advertise a tender for the development of one brand new English-language literary magazine with a strong focus on fiction and creative non-fiction with a sustainable business model at its core.
The precise vision for this new venture will be confirmed at the next English-language Publishing Development Sub-committee in February. A tender for a new franchise will be announced soon thereafter.”
The Books Council of Wales’ Rhyngom Project, which is funded by the Welsh Government, aims to promote diversity in reading books for pleasure for children and young people aged 3–16 years.
The project, which will take place over the next two years, will lead to the publication of 50 reading books for pleasure, celebrating the culture, people and history of the whole of Wales, supporting the health and well-being of children and young people and developing their empathy and literacy skills, which in turn will aid the delivery of the Curriculum for Wales.
There are four strands to the project. The first strand will be to publish Welsh adaptations of 30 English titles which promote and celebrate diversity – some of which have won awards such as the Diverse Book Award.
The second strand will involve identifying further gaps in the provision, and commissioning and publishing 20 brand-new original Welsh and English books (10 Welsh, 10 English) that celebrate diversity from a Welsh perspective.
The third strand will be to create educational resources based on the 50 titles. These resources – in print and digital format – will provide additional and valuable guidance for teachers in Wales.
The Books Council of Wales is currently selecting a panel of experienced educational practitioners who work with children and young people across the country, to support this strand of the project.
The fourth and final strand will be to coordinate a book-gifting scheme for primary and secondary schools in Wales. Every state primary school will receive a free copy of the books for children aged 3–7 years and children 8–11 years, and every state secondary school will receive a copy of the books for children 8–11 years and readers 12–16 years. They will also be given printed editions of the educational resources based on the titles.
At the heart of the vision for this project is recognising and celebrating the diverse nature of social groups and communities in Wales across the new titles.
To help select the titles for adaptation, and to advise on authors and ideas for original books, the Books Council is working with a panel of individuals who represent a wide range of organisations, communities and backgrounds in Wales, and who are keen ambassadors in their fields of expertise. The Books Council is also pleased to be working alongside partners such as Race Council Cymru (RCC), DARPL and Black History Wales. Every title to be published as part of this project has also been endorsed by the Welsh Government.
The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles said: “As someone who loves to read, I know what a pleasure it is to read a book, and I’m very pleased to support this project. It’s important that books represent and celebrate diversity, and that children and young people can see themselves and others in literature and develop empathy.”
One of the main aims of commissioning original Welsh and English books as part of the scheme was to ensure publishing opportunities for authors and illustrators from under-represented backgounds and communities. In order to secure a grant to publish books as a part of this project, publishers demonstrated their committment to commissioning new talent from writers and illustrators from a variety of different backgrounds.
To support new authors and illustrators, publishers have adopted a number of different models, including co-authorships between new and established authors, or commissioning budding authors who have not until now had the opportunity to work with a publisher in Wales.
Amongst the authors of the original books is Natalie Jones, a Welsh Jamaican writer and teacher, who will be writing a factual book (to be published by Y Lolfa) for children aged 3–7 years about 20 individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds who have achieved great things in Wales. For another publication, Haf Llewelyn, a highly acclaimed Welsh author, will be mentoring three new authors from under-represented communities to create a collection of short stories for readers aged 8–11 years (to be published by Atebol).
The twenty original Welsh and English books will be published in November 2024, and the 30 Welsh adaptations will be published in February 2025. All will be available for purchase from bookshops and Gwales online shop. Printed editions of educational resources based on the adaptations, and digital editions (on Hwb) of educational resources based on the original books, will be available by June 2025. The Books Council’s Distribution Centre will then be packaging the books and resources over a period of months, in order to deliver the free books to all maintained schools in Wales by September 2025.
As the school year draws to a close, the Books Council of Wales and Welsh Government are marking a key milestone in the Schools Love Reading book-gifting project to provide every child in a state school in Wales with a book of their own. Almost 300,000 free books and 170,000 book tokens have been given to pupils as the schools individual gifting stage of the project is completed. Last year around 53,000 books were also given to food banks and community groups in the first phase of the project.
The Books Council of Wales works to promote reading for pleasure and its benefits for mental health and well-being. In partnership with Welsh Government, they have been working to ensure reading and access to books is recognised as an essential, rather than a luxury. As families make difficult spending decisions, recent research suggests parents are now buying fewer books for their children1.
The Schools Love Reading programme provides schools, individual school children, and Welsh communities with books and book vouchers, to make books available to everyone, and in an attempt to support those who may be unable to provide a child with a book of their own.
The programme means learners across Wales have equal access to a diverse range of appealing and quality literature, in Welsh and English, that has been specially selected for children and young people.
Since April 2022, 53,075 free books have been delivered to local food banks and community groups, whilst almost 300,000 books have been gifted to state primary school children across Wales.
Meanwhile, to encourage older children and teenagers to continue to read for pleasure, the scheme has provided state secondary schools with book tokens which students can redeem against a book of their choice. 170,000 book tokens have been distributed, with 51 independent Welsh book shops and sellers participating.
Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, said: “This is a fantastic milestone to reach. It is vital that we do everything we can to help ignite a passion for reading. Books open the door to new skills, boost imagination and play an important role in a child’s development.
“We want to make sure that children enjoy reading and continue to do so. The Schools Love Reading campaign is providing a great opportunity to spread the joy of reading.”
Book-ish in Crickhowell is one of the stores involved in the scheme, and said: “It’s been such a joy to be involved with the Schools Love Reading campaign, watching students pick their books and seeing them broaden their understanding of the world through reading. The scheme has provided so many children with the opportunity to make their first book purchase and allowed children who love to read but may not be able to access resources to acquire their own copies.”
In addition, throughout 2023, every state school in Wales will receive a box of 50 books, to enable learners to enjoy new books in the classroom or school library.
Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy in Conwy just received their box as part of the scheme, and said: “It was a privilege for us to have the author Bethan Gwanas to inspire our pupils with her passion for reading. They loved exploring the diverse range of books from our local bookshop.
“We also took the pupils to Llanrwst Library and the local Welsh language bookshop. It was lovely to see all of them return with a book they had chosen with their voucher.
“These visits not only fostered a love of reading but also connected us to the community. We have been able to share this joy of reading with students from Colombia on an exchange trip, as well as our year 7, 8, and 9 pupils. This initiative has sparked a new interest in personal reading among our pupils.”
The ultimate aim of the Schools Love Reading campaign is to encourage reading for pleasure from a young age. To spread the message, the campaign has enlisted the support of various Welsh personalities, including James Hook, Steffan Powell, Charlotte Harding and Bethany Davies, all of whom have written articles for the Books Council website, exploring their love of reading, and how it has shaped their personal lives and careers.
In her piece, Wales international footballer, Jess Fishlock MBE, highlights the importance of representing diverse communities in books aimed at young people. “The visibility of different communities and identities within books is so important. I struggled in school with bullying and coming to terms with my sexuality. I think if there had been books available for me at that time, to help me understand what I was thinking and feeling, then maybe I would not have gone through what I went through.
“Schools have a responsibility to educate pupils on the world around them, and to equip them with a knowledge of people from all walks of life, this includes representation of people from the LGBTQ+ community within literature or even school textbooks.”
She also touches upon the importance of prioritising reading and books:
“When times are tough, you may think a book is the last thing you need, but it could be the best thing to invest in right now, as it has the ability to take you away from the noise of the outside world.
During difficult financial times, people still have access to local libraries, they are a great way to get your hands on books for free.”
Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Books Council of Wales said: “Our first book gifting initiatives took place in Ceredigion and Merthyr Tydfil during summer 2020 at the height of lockdown, to ensure children and young people had access to books when libraries and shops were closed, because reading is so important for our mental health and well-being.
We believe that everyone should have access to books, irrespective of their ability to afford them. We are very grateful to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language for sharing this vision and for funding Schools Love Reading to ensure every child in a state school in Wales has a book of their own.
We would like to see book gifting to schools become a regular activity and look forward to continuing to work with Welsh Government and with partners to continue to make books available for all to enjoy.”
[1] Children and young people’s access to books and educational devices at home during the cost-of-living crisis | National Literacy Trust
Books Council of Wales’ newly appointed Young People’s Panel met for the first time on Friday, 7 July. The purpose of the scheme is to ensure opportunities for young people to express their opinions on reading material and current themes, as well as their aspirations for future publications. The panel will also consider various campaignes to promote reading for pleasure among young people.
The panel members were appointed following a call out in February for individuals between 17 and 20 years old. A high number of impressive applications were submitted by young people from across Wales. We would have liked to have been able to include every candidate on the panel. However, following a selection process, nine individuals were invited to join the panel and to attend meetings. Anna Nijo, one of the members, said, “By joining this panel, I hope to increase the number of people who enjoy reading books, perhaps by supporting schools to encourage their pupils to engage with the school or local library.”
The group’s enthusiasm and eagerness to share ideas and feedback in order to shape the future of the publishing industry in Wales is very evident. Gruffydd ab Owain explains, “My vision for the panel is to bridge the gap between books for children and books for adults, to ensure that diversity is maintained and expanded, as well as to explore strategies to better engage with young people.” In addition to this, the panel will be sharing valuable information in order to develop reading for pleasure campaignes in the future. Charlie Evans said, “I would like young voices to be at the root of literature promotion. I am truely looking forward to working with the panel.”
The panel will meet three times a year, once in person and twice in virtual meetings. It will be chaired by Llŷr Titus. Llŷr knows from experience how important it is to maintain teenagers’ interest in reading. Llŷr said, “As someone who remembers having difficulty when younger in finding a Welsh book that I enjoyed, I was very pleased to be able to accept the invitation to chair the panel. I believe that only by speaking with young people, and, more importantly, listening to them, can we learn how to improve the provision for them, and help them to enjoy reading books in Welsh. My hope is that this group’s contribution will lead to improvement, and that the people and organisations who need to listen and learn will do so.”
The Children’s Books and Reading Promotion Department is very grateful to the young people on the panel and to Llŷr Titus for their committment and valuable input, ensuring that we support the publishing industry and inspire new audiences to read for pleasure.
