Our News

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...

Two new Welsh-language Magazines to launch in 2023 There will be two new Welsh-language magazines available for readers this year after Gwasg Carreg Gwalch and Golwg secured grants from the Books Council of Wales to pilot two new titles. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch will launch their new popular history magazine, Hanes Byw, in September and Golwg will launch a new digital sports magazine by the autumn. The two new titles have been set up with funding from the Books Council of Wales, which supports both...

The Books Council of Wales extends its warmest congratulations to Manon Steffan Ros as she is announced the winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, for her novel The Blue Book of Nebo. It is the first time in the award’s almost 90-year history that it has been awarded to a book in translation. The Yoto-Carnegies are the UK’s longest-running and best-loved book awards for children and young people. Continue Reading Congratulations to Manon Steffan Ros and her novel The Blue Book of Nebo – winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal

HISTORIC WIN AS YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR WRITING AWARDED TO A BOOK IN TRANSLATION FOR THE FIRST TIME;A GRAPHIC NOVEL WINS ILLUSTRATION MEDAL FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR CELEBRATED BOOKS OFFER AN IMMERSIVE READING EXPERIENCE AND ENCOURAGE YOUNG READERS TO LOOK TO THE FUTURE yotocarnegies.co.uk | #YotoCarnegies23 | @CarnegieMedals Wednesday 21 June 2023: The winners of the UK’s longest-running and best-loved book awards for children and young people, the Yoto Carnegies, were announced today...

LANSIO Y GRAGEN YN EISTEDDFOD YR URDD, SIR GAERFYRDDIN Lansiwyd Y Gragen, llyfr stori-a-llun gwreiddiol gan Casia Wiliam, yn Eisteddfod yr Urdd, Sir Gaerfyrddin. Darluniwyd y gyfrol gan Naomi Bennet, enillydd cystadleuaeth arbennig a drefnwyd gan Gyngor Llyfrau Cymru ac Urdd Gobaith Cymru i ddarganfod talent newydd ym maes darlunio llyfrau plant. Dyfarnwyd y wobr i Naomi Bennet nôl yn 2022. Y dasg i ymgeiswyr rhwng 18 a 25 oed oedd creu gwaith celf gwreiddiol i gyd-fynd â’r gyfrol Y Gragen,...

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones (published by Hodder & Stoughton) is the 2023 winner of the Tir na n-Og English-language Award for children and young people’s literature. The winning book was announced on The Review Show on Radio Wales at 18:30 on Friday 2 June 2023. Established in 1976, the annual Tir na n-Og Awards celebrate the best books for children and young people in Wales. They are organised by the Books Council of Wales and sponsored by CILIP Cymru Wales, the library and...

Books full of fun and excitement, together with strong messages, win the Welsh-language Tir na n-Og Awards 2023 The winners in the Welsh-language categories of the Tir na n-Og Awards were announced in a special ceremony held at the Carmarthenshire Urdd Eisteddfod today, Thursday 1 June 2023. The prize-winning books – Dwi Eisiau bod yn Ddeinosor by Luned Aaron and Huw Aaron, and Manawydan Jones: Y Pair Dadeni by Alun Davies – celebrate each child’s uniqueness, and the importance of accepting...

£400,000 to create new opportunities and develop new audiences in the publishing sector in Wales Today the Books Council of Wales, with Creative Wales, have announced the details of a £400,000 fund to offer the New Audiences Grant for a second year; to strengthen and diversify the publishing industry in Wales. Grants of up to £40,000 are available for organisations and new ventures in Wales to: develop new authors, illustrators or contributors from culturally diverse backgrounds or...

golwg360 receives £330,000 additional funding to expand its Welsh-language digital news service The Welsh-language news website golwg360 has secured £330,000 of additional funding to expand its provision of digital news content. The grant, which is administered by the Books Council of Wales on behalf of Welsh Government, is available to ensure the availability of a range of digital news services through the medium of Welsh. £100,000 a year for three years was still available under the terms of...

Tir na n-Og 2023 English-language shortlist revealed for Wales’ oldest children’s book award Fantasy, other worlds and alternative realities, myths and legends… The Books Council of Wales will reveal the English-language shortlist for this year’s Tir na n-Og Awards on the Radio Wales Arts Show on Friday, 24 March at 6:30pm. This year’s titles celebrate the power of storytelling – a theme that is at the heart of the four books shortlisted for this year’s English-language prize. The Tir na n-Og...

Welsh-language shortlist revealed for Wales’ oldest children’s book awards – the Tir na n-Og Awards 2023 The Books Council of Wales revealed the Welsh-language shortlists for this year’s Tir na n-Og Awards on S4C’s progamme, Heno, on Thursday, 23 March. The awards celebrate the very best of stories from Wales and stories of Wales published in 2022. This year’s shortlist celebrates the wide range of different formats published over the last year to inspire young readers. Including story and...

Make it YOUR World Book Day in 2023 Working in partnership to help more children than ever discover a love of books and reading The charity World Book Day® is holding its annual celebration on Thursday, 2 March 2023, a day dedicated to ensuring all children can develop a love of reading. World Book Day will give families and children a huge number of opportunities to mark the day in fun and affordable ways that are meaningful to them – in 2023, it’s YOUR World Book Day! With reading for...

Stories of Wales and Africa: Publishing success for families’ storybook Families and children from the North Wales Africa Society will see their own story in print this year as Y Lolfa prepares to publish The Fish Princess – a story created by the families through workshops with author Casia Wiliam and illustrator Jac Jones. The project was coordinated by the BLAS programme at Bangor’s Pontio Arts Centre, which has a long-standing relationship with the North Wales Africa Society. It was one of...

The Books Council and the Distribution Centre will be closed from Thursday afternoon, 22 December 2022 and will re-open after the holidays on Tuesday, 3 January 2023. We wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas.  

Reading Well for teens supports the mental health and wellbeing of young people between 13 and 18 years old, providing information, advice, and support to help them manage their feelings and cope with tough times. The books have been chosen and recommended by leading health professionals and co-produced with young people. The Reading Well scheme has been developed by The Reading Agency in partnership with public libraries across England and Wales, with the Books Council of Wales making a...

Newsquest and Books Council of Wales joint statement – Corgi Cymru The Books Council of Wales and Newsquest have agreed to end the funding and provision of Welsh-language digital news service Corgi Cymru. Both parties came to a mutual agreement to propose to close Corgi Cymru’s digital channels at the end of October and allow the service to be wound down over the following month. One full-time and one part-time role are now at risk and a consultation will be held with affected Newsquest staff,...

Books Council of Wales joins Welsh Government campaign to ‘take Wales to the World’ As part of Welsh Government’s World Cup Partner Support Fund, the Books Council of Wales is one of 19 organisations getting behind the Wales team as they head for Qatar in November. Economy Minister Vaughan Gething has announced the projects that will promote and celebrate Wales at the tournament. A total of £1.8 million will be shared among 19 projects which aim to project our nation’s values and work to...

Congratulations to our Chief Executive, Helgard Krause, as she joins the Gorsedd of the Bards for services to the arts in Wales. Originally from Pfalz in Germany and multilingual, Helgard has a wealth of experience in publishing both in the UK and internationally. She came to Wales in 2005 when she started working for the Books Council of Wales as International Sales Officer. She learnt Welsh in order to become the Council’s Head of Sales & Marketing and became fluent within a few months....

Linda Tomos CBE appointed as Chair, Books Council of Wales Linda Tomos has been appointed as the Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Books Council of Wales at the Council’s AGM, held on Monday, 25 July. Linda succeeds Professor M. Wynn Thomas, who is retiring after leading the Council for 20 years. Members also confirmed Rona Aldrich to continue in her role as Vice-Chair of the Books Council, a role she has held since 2015. Upon her appointment, Linda Tomos said: ‘I look forward to working...

A DAY OF CELEBRATION FOR YOUNG READERS FROM ALL OVER WALES Aberystwyth Arts Centre was full to the rafters with children from all over Wales on 21–23 June when they came to take part in the national rounds of Darllen Dros Gymru and BookSlam, reading competitions organised by the Books Council of Wales for primary school pupils in Wales. The national rounds are the culmination of months of work and activity on a county level, with the winners of the county rounds progressing to the finals in...

Strong characters lead the way to win the Tir na n-Og 2022 Welsh-language children’s book awards This year’s winners of the Welsh-language Tir na n-Og children’s book awards were announced today, Thursday, 2 June, in a special celebration at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Denbighshire. Although very different in setting and theme, memorable characters who readers will care about are at the centre of the winning novels – Gwag y Nos by Sioned Wyn Roberts and Y Pump, edited by Elgan Rhys. Established in...

Winner of children’s picture book illustration competition announced The Books Council of Wales is delighted to announce the winner of a special competition organised with Urdd Gobaith Cymru to find new talent in the field of children’s book illustration. The prize is awarded to 21-year-old Naomi Bennet for her ‘exceptionally executed’ artworks and her ‘command of narrative illustration’. The task for entrants aged 18 to 25 was to create original artwork illustrating a short children’s story...

Igniting a love of reading: a book for each pupil to keep as the Schools Love Reading programme is launched All pupils aged 3–16 in state schools in Wales will be receiving a book of their own to keep as the Books Council of Wales and the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, launch the Schools Love Reading programme today, Thursday, 26 May. Pupils from Ysgol Hamadryad in Butetown, Cardiff were amongst the first to receive their new books. Around 70 pupils celebrated the...

Heartfelt wartime novel wins 2022 Tir na n-Og English-language Children’s Book Award   The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr (published by Bloomsbury) is this year’s winner of the 2022 Tir na n-Og English-language award for children’s and young people’s literature. The winning book was announced on the Radio Wales Arts Show at 18:30 on Friday 20 May, with the author receiving a cash prize of £1,000 sponsored by CILIP Cymru Wales, as well as a specially commissioned award created by...

New opportunities for publishing across Wales as Books Council of Wales announces recipients of New Audiences Grant The Books Council of Wales, alongside Creative Wales, has today announced the recipients of £186,000 of grant funding to create new opportunities and develop new audiences within the publishing sector in Wales. The New Audiences Grant will fund thirteen projects initially, with projects ranging from setting up new publishing houses owned and run by editors and authors from Black,...

Welsh Government supporting foodbanks and local community groups with book-gifting for children and young people   Community groups and foodbanks across Wales have added children’s books to the list of resources and support they are able to provide for families from this spring. As part of their delivery of Welsh Government’s book-gifting campaign, the Books Council of Wales have supplied over 40,000 books to foodbanks, community organisations and other local groups to make books...

Books Council of Wales to fund two Welsh-language digital news services from April 2022 Wales will have more dedicated Welsh-language digital news channels from April 2022 as the Books Council of Wales announces the recipients of the digital news service funding for the next 4 years. Golwg 360 and Corgi Cymru will each receive annual funding of £100,000 under the new agreement, which will run from April 2022 until March 2026. The grants were awarded following an open tender process, which...

English-language shortlist revealed for Wales’ oldest children’s book award – Tir na n-Og 2022 Gripping wartime drama… a retelling of ancient legends… a reflective tale of the healing power of nature, and a colourful cast of characters from Welsh history. The Books Council of Wales will reveal the English-language shortlist for this year’s Tir na n-Og Awards on the Radio Wales Arts Show on Friday, 11 March at 18:30pm. This year’s awards are an eclectic mix of the very best of stories from...

Welsh-language shortlist revealed for Wales’ oldest children’s book award – the Tir na n-Og Awards 2022 Exciting mysteries and comic book capers… a fresh look at the history and people of Wales… and powerful and empowering stories of growing up in Wales today. The Books Council of Wales will reveal the Welsh-language shortlists for this year’s Tir na n-Og Awards on S4C’s progamme, Heno, on Thursday, 10 March. This year’s awards are an eclectic mix of the very best of stories from Wales and...

https://llyfrau.cymru/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Poster-Diwrnod-y-Llyfr-2022-A2.pdf Celebrating 25 years of World Book Day This year’s packed programme will help more children than ever to discover a love for reading. The charity World Book Day turns 25 on Thursday 3rd March 2022 and is inviting everyone to its party celebrating the past, present and future of children’s reading. Reading for pleasure is the biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances,...

The Books Council will be closed from Thursday, 23 December 2021 until after the holidays and will return on Tuesday, 4 January 2022.

Gwales.com will not be available on Wednesday the 15th of December between 9am – 4pm due to important maintenance of the website. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We will continue to send books via second class mail until 2pm on Wednesday, 22 December, with normal services resuming on Tuesday, 4 January 2022.

Gwahodd ceisiadau ar gyfer Stori i Bawb: Cwrs Creu Straeon Amrywiol i Blant a Phobl Ifanc yng Nghanolfan Ysgrifennu Tŷ Newydd Mae Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru ar y cyd â Llenyddiaeth Cymru yn gwahodd ceisiadau gan awduron sydd â phrofiadau bywyd sy’n cael eu tangynrychioli, yn benodol o fewn y byd llenyddiaeth a chyhoeddi yn y Gymraeg, i ymgeisio am le ar gwrs preswyl yng Nghanolfan Ysgrifennu Tŷ Newydd. Hwylusydd: Elgan Rhys Siaradwyr gwadd/tiwtoriaidar gyfer gweithdai unigol: Cyd-awduron Y Pump, Nia...

Welsh Government announces £5m investment in reading engagement and book-gifting for children and young people across Wales The Books Council of Wales warmly welcomes the announcement of the significant additional funding from Welsh Government which will deliver the #SchoolsLoveReading book-gifting campaign starting in spring 2022. As part of this multi-million-pound investment in reading engagement, a selection of 50 books will be sent to every state school in Wales, in addition to an...

Our Story – publishing voices today To mark our 60th anniversary, two short films have been commissioned, Our Story – publishing voices today and Ein Stori – Lleisiau cyhoeddi heddiw, celebrating the publishing industry in Wales. Through the voices of Richard Davies, Jannat Ahmed, Lynda Tunnicliffe and others, Our Story – publishing voices today explores the contribution of the Books Council of Wales over the past 60 years and looks forward towards future challenges and opportunities....

Wales: A Reading Nation – Launching the Books Council of Wales’s 5-year Strategic Plan For 60 years the Books Council of Wales has advanced its purpose to support the publishing industry in Wales and to promote reading for pleasure. As we mark our anniversary, we are proud to share our new strategy that sets out our ambitions and vision for the next 5 years. It outlines how we will progress with our mission to support the publishing industry and promote reading in the context of a Covid...

Two Rivers from a Common Spring: The Books Council of Wales at 60 published today Two Rivers from a Common Spring: The Books Council of Wales at 60 is published today to mark the organisation’s anniversary. The beautiful volume tells the story of the Books Council over the last 60 years, from its origins in the 1960s to the present day. The volume is edited by Gwen Davies, with original linocuts by artist Molly Brown. It is presented in memory of Alun Creunant, the first Director of the Books...

Hooked on books… Books Council of Wales turns 60 The Books Council of Wales celebrates 60 years of supporting Wales’s publishing industry and celebrating reading with a week of activities from 1–5 November 2021. From looking back to its origins as a charity set up to promote the Welsh publishing industry in 1961, to announcing its vision for the future with the launch of its new 5-year Strategic Plan, Wales: A Reading Nation, the Council will be exploring all aspects of the sector in Wales...

HONOURING CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS – MARY VAUGHAN JONES 2021 AWARD Menna Lloyd Williams is the recipient of the 2021 Mary Vaughan Jones Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is presented every three years by the Books Council of Wales in memory of Mary Vaughan Jones, who died in 1983, to a person who has made a special contribution to the field of children’s literature in Wales. Born in Llanfaethlu, Menna Lloyd Williams was educated at Ysgol Ffrwd Win and Ysgol Syr Thomas...

https://youtu.be/FFnOoUaqD8s This is the keynote speech by Professor Charlotte Williams OBE on Harnessing ‘book power’ for race equality in Wales that was delivered at the Books Council’s Annual Meeting, July 2021.

The Books Council of Wales has today announced the appointment of its new Treasurer, Alfred O. Oyekoya, to the Board of Trustees. This important role on the Board will be instrumental in leading the Council as it supports the book industry in Wales through Covid recovery and looks towards its new strategy for 2022 and beyond. Alfred Oyekoya is an MSc Finance graduate from Swansea University and a Chartered Accountant, with many years’ leadership and business development experience. He has...

Gorau’r Goreuon: Introducing three stories from the past to young audiences in 2021 The Books Council of Wales is launching the first three titles of Gorau’r Goreuon (The Best of the Best), a selection of books for children and young people. Gorau’r Goreuon aims to introduce a selection of books that are considered classics in children and young people’s literature to a new generation of readers. The titles that will be appearing in the first selection are Dirgelwch y Dieithryn (Elgan Philip...

On 30 July, Wales lost one of its great benefactors of children literature following the death of Roger Boore at the age of 82. Roger Boore was born in Cardiff in 1938. He had a degree in Classics from Oxford, a PhD in History from the University of Wales Swansea, and was a Chartered Accountant. He returned to Wales and was a life-long enthusiast of the Welsh language, which he began learning in his teens, and raised his family in Cardiff. In 1969 Roger and his wife Anne founded the publishing...

Well-being packs for young carers in Ceredigion this summer 80 packs of books are being sent to young carers across Ceredigion to support their well-being and encourage their reading journeys this summer. Young carers face the difficulty of balancing and juggling their caring responsibilities with those of everyday life, including their own education. These well-being packs will be a boost for them and a recognition of the excellent work they are doing every day. These packs have been provided...

ANNUAL MEETING The Books Council of Wales’ Annual Meeting will be held on Monday, 26 July at 12.00pm on Zoom Keynote speech will be given by Professor Charlotte Williams OBE on Harnessing ‘book power’ for race equality in Wales. Send us an email on castellbrychan@books.wales for the link to the meeting. Further information: Charlotte Williams OBE, academic and writer, is Honorary Professor in the School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences at Bangor University and holds honorary...

This year’s Darllen Dros Gymru competition was held in a very different way to usual. The tasks set for the readers remained the same; to discuss a book of their choice from a set list and to present a short performance advertising another book. Llinos Penfold adjudicated the discussions, and Mari Lovgreen the performances. Given the current circumstances this year’s competition was held on-line. Year 3 and 4 pupils were the first to take part. Ysgol y Felinheli came first with their...

Go wild for reading with the Summer Reading Challenge 2021 Wild World Heroes – online or at your local library Summer Reading Challenge launching in libraries across Wales and England 10 July 2021 (launched in Scotland and N. Ireland on 19 June) ‘Wild World Heroes’ theme, in partnership with WWF, to encourage children across the country to engage in fun reading activity focused on environmental issues Online Challenge platform offers digital rewards for reading, supporting reading catch-up...

The Books Council of Wales is delighted to announce the winner of a special competition organised with Urdd Gobaith Cymru to find new talent in the field of children’s book illustration. The prize is awarded to 24-year-old Lily Mŷrennyn from the Rhondda for her ‘exceptionally executed’ artworks and her ‘command of narrative illustration’. The task for entrants aged 18 to 25 was to create original artwork illustrating a short children’s story by one of Wales’ leading writers, Manon Steffan Ros....

Modern-day stories about the bravery of two girls who find themselves in very challenging but very different situations have triumphed in the Welsh-language categories of the prestigious Tir na n-Og Awards 2021 for children’s and young people’s literature. The winner in the primary school age category was Casia Wiliam for her novel Sw Sara Mai (‘Sara Mai’s Zoo’, published by Y Lolfa), with #helynt (‘#trouble’) by Rebecca Roberts (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch) taking the top prize in the secondary...

The Books Council of Wales has appointed seven new Trustees to lead the national charity in its work of supporting the publishing industry and promoting reading. Rajvi Glasbrook Griffiths, Alwena Hughes Moakes, Lowri Ifor, Professor Carwyn Jones, Linda Tomos, Professor Gerwyn Wiliams and Dr Caroline Owen Wintersgill will take up their positions on the new Board of Trustees on 1 April 2021. The Board will be responsible for the governance of the Books Council and will oversee the direction and...

Three stories exploring Wales at different times through history feature in the English-language books shortlisted for the Tir na n-Og Children’s Book Awards 2021 announced today (12 March 2021) on the Radio Wales Arts Show. The periods of history range from the early Middle Ages when Welsh national identity was gathering strength in The Short Knife by Elen Caldecott, to a family emigrating from Wales to the USA at the turn of the twentieth century in The Quilt by Valériane Leblond, and a...

The Books Council of Wales is delighted to announce the six Welsh-language books shortlisted for the 2021 Tir na n-Og Awards, which celebrate the best books from Wales for children and young people. The primary age category includes Ble Mae Boc – Ar Goll yn y Chwedlau by Huw Aaron (Y Lolfa), Mae’r Cyfan i Ti by Luned Aaron (Atebol) and Sw Sara Mai by Casia Wiliam (Y Lolfa). The books reaching the shortlist in the secondary age category are Y Castell Siwgr by Angharad Tomos (Gwasg Carreg...

Books from Wales will be celebrated on the digital stage on World Book Day this year, Thursday 4 March 2021. In a partnership between the Books Council of Wales and multimedia culture platform AM, a 12-hour celebration of reading will be held on amam.cymru from 9am on World Book Day. Throughout the day the platform will showcase author readings, book reviews, reading recommendations and more, with publishers, booksellers and other organisations across Wales contributing new Welsh and...

The Books Council of Wales is encouraging people across Wales to share a story in celebration of World Book Day 2021 on Thursday 4 March. Sharing a story could include reading at home with the family, sharing a story with your pet, reading in your favourite place, reading in an unusual location and more! With only a week to go before the big day, the Books Council is also asking people to share their reading photos on social media during March, using the...

Copyright permissions on re-using published material in schools and colleges have been temporarily increased during lockdown, following efforts by the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), the Books Council of Wales and the publishing industry. The CLA announced on 9 February 2021 that, following consultation with their members, there will be a temporary increase in the copying limit in the Education Licence from the current 5% to 20% until 31 March 2021. And the Books Council of Wales has made...

Independent booksellers across Wales continue to take orders online, over the phone or click-and-collect. If you just want to curl up with a good book, our booksellers have got a fabulous selection of titles to choose from. They also offer a unique personal service and great advice on what to buy. We’ve listed below the contact details for independent bookshops across Wales or you can click on our interactive map to find your local bookshop: llyfrau.cymru/en/bookshops-of-wales If you’re a...