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This year, nine young writers have been able to take a step closer to realising their ambitions to become published authors, thanks to a generous bequest from Marie Evans, who wished to support young people to develop their writing skills. Thanks to Marie’s family, the Books Council of Wales was able to organise a writing retreat, to give young authors the chance to spend two days in the company of author Sioned Erin. They were able to take time to discuss writing, share ideas and take part in...

Young readers from Ysgol Twm o’r Nant in Denbigh have been getting ready to tackle this year’s Summer Reading Challenge with author Leisa Mererid at a launch event at Denbigh Library this afternoon, Wednesday 10 July 2024. The children have signed up for the Challenge, created by national charity The Reading Agency, which aims to keep kids reading over the summer holidays with events, activities and brilliant books – all available to access for free from local libraries. This year’s Summer...

BOoks Council of Wales announces over 40 projects that share £500,000 of funding in third year of New Audiences Grant The Books Council of Wales has announced the 44 projects across Wales that have received funding through the New Audiences Grant for 2024. Applications totalling almost £1 million were received for the £500,000 fund, which was made available by Welsh Government through Creative Wales, to support and develop the publishing industry in Wales. Applications were invited under three...

ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE WELSH-LANGUAGE TIR NA N-OG AWARDS 2024The winners in the Welsh-language categories of the 2024 Tir Na n-Og Awards were announced today, 29 May, in a special lunchtime ceremony at the Urdd Eisteddfod Maldwyn in Meifod.The winner in the primary age category is Jac a’r Angel by Daf James, and the winner in the secondary age category is Astronot yn yr Atig by Megan Angharad Hunter. The two winning novels celebrate the power of imagination to help us navigate difficult...

Where the River Takes Us by Lesley Parr (published by Bloomsbury Publishing) is the 2024 winner of the Tir na n-Og English-language Award for children and young people’s literature.  Author Lesley Parr has won the Tir na n-Og English-language Award with Where the River Takes Us, a pacy 1970s adventure set in a Welsh valley, published by Bloomsbury. The winning book was announced at a lunchtime ceremony on Friday 17 May, at the CILIP Cymru Wales conference in Cardiff, by singer, actor and...

The Books Council of Wales is inviting applications for a third round of the New Audiences Grant, thanks to £500,000 of funding from Welsh Government through Creative Wales. The purpose of the grant is to support and develop the publishing industry in Wales. Grants are available for publishers, charities or organisations based in Wales to: Create promotional and marketing plans that will reach new audiences  Grants available for up to £20,000 per applicant for book promotion and marketing...

  The Books Council of Wales and influencer, presenter and book lover Ellis Lloyd Jones revealed the English-language shortlist for this year’s Tir na n-Og Awards on Friday 15 March at 12pm, on their Instagram and TikTok channels. The awards celebrate the very best of stories from Wales and about Wales that were published in 2023. The Tir na n-Og Awards are the oldest awards for children’s literature in Wales and are held every year by the Books Council of Wales, supported by CILIP Cymru...

​ The Books Council of Wales revealed the Welsh-language shortlist for this year’s Tir na n-Og Awards on S4C’s programme, Heno on Wednesday 13 March. The awards celebrate the very best of stories from Wales and about Wales that were published in 2023 The Tir na n-Og Awards are the oldest awards for children’s literature in Wales and are held every year by the Books Council of Wales, supported by CILIP Cymru Wales. They celebrate the talents of authors and illustrators who either create...

​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...

Celebrating World Book Day in Wales 2024 The charity World Book Day® is holding its annual celebration on Thursday 7 March. Children throughout the country will be encouraged to enjoy reading, receiving £1 book tokens to exchange for one of the many specially published £1 books for FREE, or to put towards another book of their choice. This year’s Welsh-language book, supported by the Books Council of Wales and published by Rily Publications, is Ffeithiau Ffiaidd: Y Corff.  Written and...

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. ...

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,...

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...

50 new books to be published in Wales for children and young people, to help with empathy, literacy and to promote reading for pleasure. 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...

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...