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Over 40 projects receive New Audiences Grant
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 themes: book promotion and marketing programmes that reach new readers in Welsh and English; provide opportunities to new voices in news services and popular magazines; and develop and publish new content that represents Wales in all its diversity.
Among the projects to receive funding are:
Atebol: promoting books from Sebra, the new publishing imprint for adults, to new audiences
Atebol will build on the early success of Sebra, their new and contemporary imprint which has a strong focus on developing new audiences and talent. This will include a cutting-edge digital material creation package to promote books, a visual project and working with a specialist external company to develop the style of Sebra’s covers.
Material Queer
Material Queer will commission a range of Welsh or Wales-based journalists to deliver articles in explorative formats such as video or audio in order to reach new audiences across multiple platforms, with a particular focus on social media. The call-out for submissions will be nationwide. The journalists selected will be provided opportunities for connection and learning and will be mentored throughout their commission. Material Queer’s aim is to diversify not just the news, but who tells it and how, in Wales; creating important structural change which will ultimately strengthen the industry.
Urdd Gobaith Cymru
The Urdd’s intention is to offer an opportunity to develop and mentor a young person to contribute cartoons to Cip magazine and nurture talents and skills that will contribute to the publishing world in Wales in the future. We will offer mentoring opportunities with experienced and inspiring individuals with the aim of developing the ability to tell a story through words and pictures.
Seren Books: Change from Within
Through this project, Seren will appoint an early-career individual with lived experience of racism, ableism and/or poverty as a Desk Editor at Seren where they will gain first-hand experience of working within the book trade in Wales. The role will include upskilling in copy- and creative-editing through mentoring and a short training course. With mentor support, they will also lead a project to commission new fiction and non-fiction titles by writers who have lived experience of racism, ableism and/or poverty via an open call-out. Successful writers and the Desk Editor will then be supported to develop their pitches into publication proposals for Seren’s 2025/26 publishing programme.
Lucent Dreaming: Anthology of Welsh Deaf and Disabled writers
Lucent Dreaming will commission and develop a bilingual anthology titled Beyond/Tu Hwnt: Anthology of Welsh Deaf and Disabled Writers/Blodeugerdd o Ysgrifenwyr Cymraeg Byddar ac Anabl, edited by Bethany Handley, Megan Angharad Hunter and Sioned Erin Hughes, with a view to publication. The book will feature work from 20+ contributors. The project will develop writing for publication from Deaf and Disabled writers. This anthology aims to create a space for, and preserve, the rich and diverse voices of contemporary Wales for future generations to come.
Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Books Council of Wales said: “We are very grateful to Creative Wales and Welsh Government for supporting this vital fund again, especially in a year when this additional funding will make such an impact to the businesses and initiatives that have been awarded grants. Competition for the grant this year was higher than ever with many excellent applications, and while we were not able to fund all of them, we were delighted to see so many creative, forward-thinking proposals submitted. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of these exciting projects at the end of the year.”
Since 2022, Creative Wales has supported the New Audiences Grant with over £1.5 million in funding, supporting over 100 different projects across Wales.
The Minister for Creative Industries, Sarah Murphy, said: “To have supported over 100 projects under our New Audiences Grant is such a fantastic achievement. This funding allows for real opportunities for new and diverse voices to be heard across Wales and beyond.
“The volume of high-quality applications received shows how there is real demand for this funding, to further develop and support a publishing industry that represents the whole of Wales. Pob lwc / good luck to all those supported through the fund.”
The full list of projects awarded funding in this round is published on the Books Council’s website Grants | Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru
Tir na n-Og Award Winners 2024
The winners in the Welsh-language categories of the 2024 Tir Na n-Og Awards were announced on Wednesday, 29 May, in a special ceremony at the Urdd Eisteddfod Maldwyn in Meifod and the announcement of the English-language category was made at a ceremony at the CILIP...
Announcing the Winners of the Tir na n-Og Awards
ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE WELSH-LANGUAGE TIR NA N-OG AWARDS 2024
The 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 times and experiences.
Winner in the primary age category:
Jac a’r Angel by Daf James, illustrated by Bethan Mai (Y Lolfa)
A humorous, charming and sensitive novel. Jac a’r Angel is a lively Christmas story. Children and adults alike can enjoy the ‘coming of age’ story of an innocent boy who uses his imagination to overcome grief and the dark forces of life.
Daf James said: “I’ve been aware of the Tir na n-Og Awards since learning to read as a child, as so many of the authors I enjoyed had won the award: authors such as T. Llew Jones, J. Selwyn Lloyd, Irma Chilton, Gwenno Hywyn, Penri Jones, Jenny Nimmo… the list is never-ending! It’s a really important award that celebrates and draws much-deserved attention to books for children and young people, and being able to join the list of my childhood heroes is a dream come true for me.
Though I am mostly a dramatist, books – not plays – were my first literary passion. Being able to escape into the world of a story was a balm to the soul for me as an eccentric young boy, and I have longed to write a novel since then. Becoming a dad spurred me on; I wanted to write a story for my children and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for being an inspiration; but I also wish to thank those authors who came before me, and made me believe, like Jac in Jac a’r Angel, that anything is possible when your imagination is alight.”
Winner in the secondary age category:
Astronot yn yr Atig by Megan Angharad Hunter (Y Lolfa)
Rosie is mad about the TV series Yr Estronos and about astronauts, and when a spaceship lands in her back garden, she cannot believe her luck. This is a novel about friendship, about time-travelling, about growing up in a complex and difficult world, and about pushing the boundaries of the imagination to the extreme.
Megan Angharad Hunter said: “There are no words to describe how much this honour means to me. As a child and during my teens I always kept an eye on the Tir na n-Og Awards, so winning it – and especially winning it for a book that is so close to my heart – is an amazingly surreal experience.
A novel like Astronot yn yr Atig would have been a big comfort to me when I was in school and so I hope it will be a comfort to children in Wales today as well, while taking them on an exciting and imaginative journey through space!
The Tir na n-Og Awards are so important because children’s books don’t get nearly enough attention, especially original Welsh-language books, which is ironic because we need children to read in order to ensure there will be adult Welsh readers in the future! There are many reasons why I think children’s books are more important, possibly, than books for adults, and this is just one of them.”
Pupils from Ysgol Pennant, Penybont Fawr, and Gwenno Wigley from Ysgol Bro Hyddgen, Machynlleth played a special role in today’s ceremony, performing extracts from the winning novels for the authors and audience.
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.
Jamie Finch, Chair of CILIP Cymru Wales, said: “On behalf of CILIP Cymru Wales, we are delighted once again to support the annual Tir na n-Og Awards, which showcase some of the most inspiring and entertaining books penned for children and young adults in Wales.
We are grateful to the Books Council of Wales for organising these awards, and, of course, to the judging panels who have the unenviable task of picking the winners.”
The other shortlisted titles in the Welsh-language categories were:
Primary age category
- Mari a Mrs Cloch by Caryl Lewis, illustrated by Valériane Leblond (Y Lolfa)
- Wyneb yn Wyneb by Sioned Wyn Roberts (Atebol)
- Y Gragen by Casia Wiliam, illustrated by Naomi Bennet (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas)
Secondary age category
- Fi ydy Fi by Sian Eirian Lewis, illustrated by Celyn Hunt (Y Lolfa)
- Sêr y Nos yn Gwenu by Casia Wiliam (Y Lolfa)
Also announced today were the winners of the Welsh-language Readers’ Choice Awards (Dewis y Darllenwyr). These are special awards chosen by children and young people who took part in the Tir na n-Og Shadowing Scheme and nominated their own winners from the shortlisted titles in each category.
The winner of the Welsh-language primary category Readers’ Choice Award is Mari a Mrs Cloch by Caryl Lewis, illustrated by Valériane Leblond (Y Lolfa)
The winner of the Welsh-language secondary category Readers’ Choice Award is Sêr y Nos yn Gwenu by Casia Wiliam (Y Lolfa)
Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Books Council said: “Warmest congratulations to Daf James and to Megan Angharad Hunter on winning this year’s Welsh-language Tir na n-Og Awards, and congratulations also to the winners of the Readers’ Choice Awards – Caryl Lewis and Casia Wiliam.
Thank you to everybody involved in this year’s awards, with special thanks to the librarians, teachers and booksellers who play such a vital role helping young readers discover these wonderful books.”
Where the River Takes Us by Lesley Parr (published by Bloomsbury) is the winner of both the English-language category, and the English-language Readers’ Choice Award this year. The announcement was made at a ceremony at the CILIP Cymru Wales conference in Cardiff on 17 May.
More information about the Tir na n-Og Awards and titles can be found on the Books Council website, books.wales.
