Since 2004, Literature Wales has awarded over £1 million in Writers’ Bursaries, enabling 209 writers to develop their work in a variety of genres. Fiction, poetry, children’s fiction, teenage fiction, and creative non-fiction are well-represented over the last decade, and in 2011 graphic novels were awarded for the first time.
Past Bursary successes and prize-winning books include Belinda Bauer’s novel Blacklands (Transworld), which won the acclaimed CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year 2010; Lloyd Jones’ Wales Book of the Year Award (2007) winning novel, Mr Cassini (Seren); and Dark Tales from the Woods (Pont Books) by Daniel Morden which won the 2007 Tir na n-Og Prize for the best English language book for children. Multi award-winning poet Gwyneth Lewis won the Crown at the 2012 National Eisteddfod for her sequence of Welsh-language poems on the subject of “Island”.
Twenty-two writers have received a 2014/15 award. This year’s bursaries, which total £81,000, will allow the writers to take time out of employment to write, or enable some small-scale travel and research. As well as supporting a wealth of new talent, bursaries have also been awarded to a number of established figures in the literary world. Eleven of this year’s authors are first-time bursary recipients.
Katie Gramich, Chair of the Literature Wales Bursaries Panel commented: “In this, Dylan Thomas’s centenary year, we can rejoice in the fact that Wales still has a pool of hugely talented and inventive authors, writing in Welsh and English, and in a stimulating variety of genres.”
Literature Wales’ Bursaries Panel is pleased to support new writing by writers who have not yet published a volume of their own work. Carly Holmes will concentrate on her short stories, dramatist Kaite O’ Reilly will turn her hand to fiction and Deborah Llewelyn will work on creative non-fiction.
New writer Steven Hitchins will travel the highways and byways of Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd, keeping his ear to the ground for poetic inspiration while film-maker Zillah Bowes will concentrate on developing work for her first poetry collection. Poet Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch will use her Writer’s Bursary to work on a new sequence of poems aiming to explore the lost railway lines of south-west Wales.
English-language fiction in Wales will be particularly enriched, with new fiction including short stories, graphic novels, a novella, and several novels. We will be transported from crime noir in London, to upland hill farms in mid Wales, to 1950s Britain, courtesy of Robert Lewis, Tia Jones and Caroline Ross. Sarah KilBride and Euron Griffith will concentrate on writing for teenagers.
A Miscellaneous Fund Bursary will enable Helen Buhaenko to carry out research in the Ukraine for her forthcoming memoir about her father’s family, and John Fraser Williams will continue to research his family’s contribution to the Welsh mission to Mizoram.
This year’s Welsh-language Bursary recipients are: Mererid Hopwood, Robat Gruffudd, Euron Griffith and Simon Brooks.
Literature Wales Chief Executive, Lleucu Siencyn, said: “Supporting the writer at every stage of their career is fundamental to the work of Literature Wales. Literature Wales Writers’ Bursaries allow the writers time and space to fully develop their writing. We are pleased to note that the 2014 Bursaries will support many new and emerging writers, as well as more established literary figures.”
Literature Wales delivers the Writers’ Bursaries scheme on behalf of The Arts Council of Wales. Dai Smith, Chair of the Arts Council of Wales commented: “Literature Wales’ Writers’ Bursaries scheme showcases and rewards the best contemporary writing today. Arts Council of Wales is delighted to continue investing in emerging literary talent. Supporting and rewarding a new generation of talent is at the heart of what we believe in and provides a great example of how together we can support literary flair and bring its treasure to wider and wider audiences.”
