Literature Wales’ Top 10 of 2024
A note from our Artistic Director, Leusa Llewelyn
What a privilege it is to present an insight into an incredibly busy year for Literature Wales. We had to narrow our highlights down to ten things, lest our newsletter turn into a novel. Beyond our list of ten, some of my main highlights were the fourth round of Representing Wales which has been intensively developing a cohort of 14 writers who are underrepresented within our literary world to sharpen their writing skills, and also its sister program Writing Well which has been developing six literary facilitators to use their writing craft to benefit audiences throughout Wales’ communities. It has been a privilege to collaborate with so many great writers from Wales and beyond this year, and to reach audiences all over the country.
Best wishes to all our followers and friends over the festivities in December, and here’s to starting another jam-packed exciting year in 2025!
Tŷ Newydd Programme Launch
In the autumn we released a bumper programme of creative writing courses and retreats which will be held at Tŷ Newydd Writers’ Centre for our 35th year in 2025.
Whether you’re looking to hone your craft as a poet or storyteller, write your memoirs, combine some writing time with yoga or wild swimming, or get top tips from a literary agent, there is a course for everyone at Tŷ Newydd. Our Nant Writers Retreat also offers a quiet space for those who need time to focus on their writing away from the distractions of their everyday life.
For so many writers – amateur, professional, and at every stage of their careers – the historic sixteenth-century house has had a transformative impact.
Jaqueline Ward, who attended ‘A Tale on the Tongue’ storytellers course with Phil Okwedy and Daniel Morden, told us: “I came away with a new story ready to be performed and have done so twice already in the few weeks since the course.”
Kaja Brown found the Literary Agent Spring Retreat “invaluable” as it “coincided with me going fully freelance as a writer”, while Rosy Adams, a writer based in Mid Wales, discovered Tŷ Newydd two years ago and describes how, “I fell in love with the place. The house, the gardens, the walks along Afon Dwyfor, and by the sea to Cricieth. The wonderful people who welcome you as if you’re family.” She returns to Tŷ Newydd at least once a year, and says that “every time my writing practice is rejuvenated.”
Our courses are open to anyone wanting to develop their writing, and as a registered charity, Literature Wales is very grateful to the individuals and trusts whose donations support the upkeep of Tŷ Newydd and enable us to offer bursaries to those who would not otherwise be able to benefit from the courses.
Over the past year the generosity of our donors has enabled us to grant 17 bursaries, 11 of which were for Tŷ Newydd courses, and six for writer retreats at Nant. If you would like to find out more about our Bursaries please click here: Financial Support.
And if you would consider making a donation to support this aspect of our charitable work, please head to our Support page, or get in touch with catrin.slater@llenyddiaethcymru.org.
Our National Ambassadors
It has been an extremely busy year for our national poets, the National Poet of Wales, Children’s Laureate Wales and Bardd Plant Cymru. The poets have penned new poems throughout the year and have run projects across Wales both inside and outside the classroom, reaching thousands of young people.
In addition to appearing in countless news broadcasts and articles from Sky News to the Western Mail, our National Poet, Hanan Issa has composed a number of commissioned poems this year, for example to commemorate a new Covid memorial woodland in Erddig for the National Trust and a piece to mark the Circular Economy Conference. She has been collaborating with international and Welsh poets learning about the cynghanedd form as part of an exciting project which will be celebrated at the beginning of the new year. Hanan has also been planning an important project looking at women’s health in Wales which she will lead with Gwyneth Lewis. More information about the project, which will be called Chronic Women, will be announced in 2025!
Both our Children’s Laureate Wales and Bardd Plant Cymru have had an extremely busy year inspiring pupils from every part of the country. This year saw a very unexpected collaboration – an excerpt from Alex‘s poem, ‘The Gardener’, was part of the fashion world’s biggest, most glamorous night out, as it walked the Met Gala Red Carpet courtesy of Lewis Hamilton’s custom Burberry garments!
In May, Alex dusted off his hiking boots as he embarked on a 5-day 40-mile trek, visiting 5 primary schools in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park along the way as part of his Green and Carefree Walking Tour. Alex was also one of the 5 writers who took part in our Food and Fun project, delivering creative workshops for children during the summer holidays.
Nia Morais started the year by performing at one of the biggest literary festivals in the world, Kolkata Festival, Nia also had a busy summer delivering workshops at the Urdd Eisteddfod, Hay Festival, and the National Eisteddfod in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Take a look at their poems on the project page on the Literature Wales website.
Our Management Board
Our board represents a wide range of skills and experiences and this year we were thrilled to welcome five new members – Nasir Adam, Margiad Eckstein, Mohamed Hassan, Martin Willis, and Charlotte Williams. We continue to look for additional Trustees to help shape Literature Wales’ strategic direction and provide effective and constructive governance.
Are you passionate about the arts and the transformative possibilities of literature? Please get in touch or learn more about the role and responsibilities in this pack.
Inspiring Communities Fund
Our Inspiring Communities Fund is a unique funding scheme for literature event supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Wales. These events take place all across Wales, in community halls, libraries, pubs, schools, youth clubs – and also on virtual platforms for groups who are meeting online. We supported 101 organisations this year to host talks, lectures, creative writing workshops, and more.
Are you hosting a literary event in 2025? Apply for funding now on our website.
Poetry at the Senedd
In February our programme of events at the Senedd buildings continued, funded by Welsh Government. Celebrating all things poetic, the programme raises the profile of poetry and spoken word at the home of Welsh democracy. The evening focused on writer development and the role of Tŷ Newydd National Writing Centre. Sharing their own experiences, we had our panel; poet Grug Muse, the current National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa, and Former National Poet of Wales, Ifor ap Glyn.
It was also a pleasure to welcome the delegation from the London branch of EUNIC (EU National Institutes for Culture) to our event as part of their week-long trip to Wales.
Strategic Courses
Hand in hand with our annual creative writing courses at Tŷ Newydd, which anyone can attend, we also run a series of tailored courses that aim to tackle underrepresentation in the Welsh literary sector. The courses are free of charge and attendees are selected through a competitive application process.
At the beginning of the year we welcomed Kathod to Tŷ Newydd for a course which combined spoken word and music.
Re-inventing the Protagonist, our creative writing course for deaf and/or disabled Writers, returned for a second year, as did our creative writing retreat for LGBTQ+ writers in partnership with Llyfrau Lliwgar. We also launched two brand new opportunities – Speak Back for poets and spoken word artists which will be held as a residential course in March 2025, and an opportunity, in partnership with EUNIC, for five writers who write in Welsh or any other minority language to join a residency of international writers as literary ambassadors for Wales in May 2025.
We also worked in partnership with the Hay Festival again this year for the Writers at Work programme, offering a jam-packed week of opportunities for writers during the festival.
2024 Wales Book of the Year Award
The Wales Book of the Year Awards is a literary highlight for us at Literature Wales, and so to for literature lovers across the country. This year a fantastic night was held celebrating the Wales Book of the Year writers at a live ceremony at Galeri in Caernarfon. Tom Bullough’s Sarn Helen (Granta) was crowned as the Book of the year in the English-language, whilst Mari George received the Award in the Welsh-language with her novel Sut i Ddofi Corryn (Sebra).
You can find out more about all of this year’s winners on our website, enjoy a gallery of photos from the ceremony, and if you haven’t done so already, why not read the fantastic books over the break?
Pencerdd
We announced the first ever Pencerdd cohort at the beginning of the year, our new Welsh-language opportunity for poets to develop the ancient craft of cynganeddu. The programme is run in partnership with Barddas and aims to develop poets that are new to the tradition and nurture new voices and perspectives within the cynganeddu tradition in Wales.
We’re delighted that Pencerdd will return for a second year and applications are now open! Closing date: Monday 20 January 2025. Discover more
Wales’ Creative Children Back Cymru’s Historic Women’s EURO Play-off Journey with 400+ Poems
As Wales reached the UEFA Women’s EURO play-offs for the first time this autumn, hundreds of children put pen to paper and wrote poems to show their support for Cymru!
Before the games, Literature Wales and the FAW teamed up to ask the children of Wales to celebrate Cymru’s achievement and show how inspiring they are using the power of poetry. Submissions were sent in droves by teachers and parents alike. From Anglesey to Narberth, Merthyr to Mold, Rhyl to Brecon, children from 6 – 16 years of age have been inspired by the Welsh women’s team, who were on the brink of making history.
The Cymru squad, including, Cymru Manager Rhian Wilkinson and Cymru players Angharad James, Jess Fishlock, Hayley Ladd, Kayleigh Barton and many more, were surprised with the creative efforts of Wales’ creative children. With the team now having claimed their place in the tournament, hopefully the passionate poems of these young people will give them a boost as they prepare for their group games in Switzerland in 2025. Read more.
Lit in Place
Lit in Place is our flagship project in partnership with WWF Cymru that explores the climate and nature emergency through literature.It offers funding to writers to deliver activities within their local community. One of those projects that received support in 2022-2023 was Gwledda, run by Iola Ynyr in Rhosgadfan, and earlier this year an event was held to celebrate the project where members of the community came together for the unveiling of a special sculpture of Kate Roberts’ cloak.
The sculpture is the work of the artist Simon O’Rourke, which has been created from reclaimed wood, and inscribed in its surface are words suggested by the community members following the Gwledda project.
Diosg
The author and poet Casia Wiliam has also recently established a new creative writing group in Bethesda, Gwynedd with the support of Literature Wales, Partneriaeth Ogwen and GwyrddNi. The writing group has been meeting since April at Canolfan Cefnfaes in Bethesda and is called ‘Diosg’. The name is inspired by a poem by Casia which discusses her experiences with the writers. The aim of this project is to develop the creative voices of the community and utilise writing to alleviate climate anxiety.