​The Books Council of Wales has published details of the projects that have been funded by the second year of the New Audiences Grant, with projects from across Wales receiving a share of £400,000 of funding in 2023/24.

The New Audiences Grant is funded by Welsh Government through Creative Wales. Its purpose is to strengthen and diversify the publishing industry in Wales. Grants of up to £40,000 were available for organisations and new ventures in Wales to:

• develop new authors, illustrators or contributors from culturally diverse backgrounds or under-represented groups from Wales, and provide them with the support and opportunities they may need to be published in Wales;
• target new audiences in Wales by developing original material and/or using media channels or formats currently not funded;
• set up a publishing business or publication that will strengthen and diversify the current offer in Wales.

Among the new initiatives to receive funding were:

Afterlight Comics
Afterlight Comics are collaborating with local Welsh creatives to transform tales from Welsh folklore into a graphic novel. By teaming up with artists and writers from Wales, the goal is to breathe new life into these traditional stories, adapting them into a visually captivating format. This initiative aims to spotlight Welsh culture and heritage, making age-old folklore accessible and intriguing for modern readers. 

Wales Young Farmers Clubs
Up to 15 members of Wales Young Farmers Clubs are working with mentors to develop their writing skills, leading to publication. With the help and support of two experienced mentors, a variety of written forms, depending on the individual, will be created and developed by young people between the ages of 10 and 28. Whether through humorous reports, poems or short stories, the voices of young, rural Welsh people will be heard in a published volume.

Gypsy Writers Project: Expanding Cultural Understanding, Romani Cultural and Arts Company
The Romani Cultural and Arts Company’s trailblazing new creative writing project ‘Gypsy Writers’ invited applications from emerging Gypsy, Roma and Traveller writers currently living in Wales. Extending the highly successful Gypsy Maker programme, four emerging writers will be commissioned, who have not been previously published (online or in print). Funds will be used to commission a leading Gypsy, Roma and Traveller writer to steer the development of new writing by offering tailored one-to-one mentoring, prose and poetry workshops, and industry-specific training.

Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Books Council of Wales said: “Thanks to Creative Wales, once again we have been able to fund some really exciting projects through the New Audiences Grant. We’re pleased to be able to build on some of the successes from the first year of the grant and see projects grow for a second year. I’m also delighted that we could work with some brand-new partners this time round, who will bring new talent and ideas to publishing in Wales, appeal to new audiences and create lasting change in our sector.”

The Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Dawn Bowden said: “I’m delighted that we’re able to continue supporting this scheme.  This funding brings the total investment through the grant to over £1million and nearly 70 different projects across Wales.

“The first year of the New Audiences Grant has created exciting opportunities for new collaborations and partnerships.  I wish the new projects all the best and we look forward to seeing their achievements.”

Details of the projects that received funding are on the Books Council’s website: Grants | Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru

Celebrating World Book Day in Wales 2024

The Books Council of Wales is inviting applications for a 4-year contract (2024–28) for a brand-new English-language literary magazine as it opens the tender process today, 4 March 2024.

£80,000 per annum is available to develop and establish one new title. The remit of the magazine is for an English-language literary magazine with a strong focus on fiction and creative non-fiction, featuring robust reviews and commentary, and which has a sustainable and adaptable business model at its core. 

The magazine will be funded by Welsh Government through Creative Wales, from the Cultural Periodicals Grant, and will join 4 other English-language titles in receiving a grant over the funding period. 

Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Books Council said: “This is an exciting opportunity for applicants to put forward their ideas for a brand-new title, with a view to launching the first issue at the end of the year. We are looking for a magazine with a robust and ambitious business model that will make a significant contribution to the culture of Wales, which will seek to attract the widest possible readership, and also support skills development as part of the wider publishing ecosystem”.

Guidelines and application documents are on the Books Council of Wales website – books.wales. Tenders | Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. The closing date for stage 1 applications is 15 April 2024, with shortlisted applications going to a second stage in the summer.

Schools Love Reading project gives a boost to young readers

In November 2021, the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles announced a multi-million-pound investment in reading engagement… and we were about to embark on the most ambitious book-gifting project we have ever managed! The Schools Love Reading programme would provide every child in a state school in Wales with a book of their own to keep, as well as provide additional books for every school’s library. Two years, 438,245 books, 168,870 book tokens and 1,490 schools later, and the project was completed in December 2023.

Schools, food banks, publishers, bookshops and the Books Council of Wales have worked together to deliver the programme, and we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone for their support and participation in the scheme to ensure every child was able to select and choose their own free book. We’re also delighted to share some of the findings from the evaluation report, which has shown what an important difference this scheme has made to children and young people across Wales.

The purpose of the scheme was to promote reading for pleasure among children and young people, and to ensure that readers had equal access to a diverse range of appealing and quality titles. Reading for pleasure is known to increase well-being and empathy, develop imagination, support educational attainment, and provide opportunities to explore new ideas and experiences.

The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles said: “Reading opens the door to new skills, boosts imagination and plays an important role in a child’s development. The Schools Love Reading campaign celebrates the power of reading, and supports learners, schools, parents and carers to encourage and enjoy it. We want to make sure that every child has the opportunity to reap the rewards from reading and it’s fantastic to see this campaign helping ignite a passion with high quality material.”

The programme was delivered in four stages:

• Individual book gift to every child in state primary schools in Wales, which was delivered via a curated selection of books sent to schools, for learners to choose from.
• £7 book token for every learner aged 11–16 in state secondary schools in Wales. Book tokens were delivered to schools, who arranged distribution to students. Some schools worked in partnership with local bookshops to arrange bookfairs or bookshop visits to help students make their purchases.
• Every state school received a pack of 50 books celebrating diversity, to add to their school or class library.
• 66,775 books have been distributed to foodbanks and community groups so that service users could choose books during their visits. Deliveries took place in November 2022 and again in November 2023, in time for Christmas.

Primary School book gifting – findings
There were 231 individual responses to the survey from 226 primary schools, in addition to discussion groups. In all, feedback was included from school staff, learners and parents/carers.

• 100% of schools agreed that the books were of a high standard and quality, and most importantly, 95% said that the children liked the choice of books.

 “We had a ‘book browse’ afternoon. Books were arranged with bean-bags around each display for children to move round and select a book having handled it, read the blurb, read the start etc.” – Primary school representative, survey

Many schools took the opportunity to create a special event out of the book gifting, to help the children browse the selection on offer and choose their own book to keep. One school offered a ‘book browse afternoon’, another a ‘book picnic’ and some schools combined it with other activities such as St Davids Day or World Book Day.

“Some of our children said this would be the first book they ever owned that they could keep and would not have to give back. It was lovely to see children carrying their books to the yard to read at break time and how proud they were to take them home and say they were ‘books to keep forever’.” – Primary school representative, survey

• Over 95% of schools agreed that the programme had increased opportunities for learners to read for pleasure, and nearly 80% said that the books have encouraged reading at home.

“Parents were very grateful for the books. Many of our children don’t have access to books at home so they were overjoyed to have a book to take home.” – Primary school representative, survey

Secondary School book tokens – findings
There were 68 individual responses to the survey from 61 secondary schools, in addition to discussion groups. In all, feedback was collected from staff, learners and parents/carers.

Older learners at secondary school level were gifted a £7 book token to enable them to choose any book either by visiting a bookshop or through shop visits to schools. We also hoped that this approach would build relationships between bookshops and schools, as well as introducing learners to their local bookshop.

• Over 90% of respondents from secondary schools reported that learners appreciated receiving their book tokens and 88% agreed that the book tokens provided had encouraged reading at home.

“I think it’s a fantastic boost to the pupils. I really enjoyed the pupils’ reaction and pleasure that choosing and ‘buying’ their own book brought. Some pupils had to be persuaded that yes it was real and yes it was actually a book all for themself.” – Secondary school representative, survey

We were especially pleased to see that all secondary school learners who participated in the evaluation felt that the programme had increased their desire to read for pleasure, and that they now read much more, having taken part in the scheme. Welsh-language books were also shown to be in demand, and learners stated that they were more likely to read Welsh books since taking part in the programme, reporting a greater interest in reading as a result of the initiative.

“There were some Welsh books that needed to be fought for because loads of people wanted to read them!” Secondary school learner, discussion group

• 95% strongly agreed or agreed that the programme increased opportunities for reading for pleasure, and 95% agreed that the programme improved access to books.

Collaboration with food banks
Three food banks took part in the survey to provide feedback, all of which found different ways to share the books with their service users, such as displays for browsing, or sharing books with local schools. Each of the food banks who responded detailed the positive outcomes of being able to provide families with a free book for their child/children.

“It was lovely to see children walking away with the books like it was treasure.” – Foodbank staff/volunteer, discussion

The books were described as ‘beautiful’, ‘high quality’ and catered to all ages. The availability of bilingual books was also referenced by participants as beneficial for families.

If you’d like to know more about the Schools Love Reading programme, there’s information about the scheme here, as well as our series of ‘I Love Reading!’ blogs by Welsh celebrities including Jess Fishlock, Mel Owen, James Hook and others.

SEASON’S GREETINGS 2023

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.”