Literature Wales

Overview

In June 2025, Literature Wales commissioned the Cardiff-born spoken-word poet Sarah McCreadie as its “Cymru EURO 2025 Poet”, sending her to Switzerland to document the Cymru women’s team’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 campaign in verse (Football Association of Wales). McCreadie was tasked with writing fifteen poems between her appointment and the end of the group stages, following the squad to Lucerne and St Gallen; her first commission, “Rydyn ni yma / We are here”, was written after she attended the squad announcement on the summit of Yr Wyddfa on 19 June (Football Association of Wales). A Welsh learner who weaves the language into her poems, she worked with the poet Marged Tudur on Welsh translations of her long-form pieces — Tudur herself won the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Poetry award for Mynd (Football Association of Wales). The project was funded through the Welsh Government’s EURO 2025 Partner Support Fund, and the FAW describes its collaboration with Literature Wales as long-standing, with poetry and creative writing having previously inspired Cymru supporters and engaged new audiences (Football Association of Wales).

The commission is a good window into what the organisation actually is. Llenyddiaeth Cymru – Literature Wales is the Welsh national literature development charity, registered with the Charity Commission as no. 1146560 (Charity Commission for England and Wales). Its own summary of how it spends its money is plain: supporting Welsh writers throughout their journey through creative writing courses, bursaries, mentoring and training; getting writers into schools, onto festival stages and into Welsh communities; and striving to make sure Wales’ literary scene reflects the rich diversity of the nation (Charity Commission for England and Wales). For the financial year ending 31 March 2025 it reported total income of £1,270,458 — including £766,387 from four government grants — against expenditure of £1,310,761, with 18 employees, 11 trustees and 2 volunteers (Charity Commission for England and Wales).

The organisation’s stated purpose goes beyond writer support into cultural change: tackling inequalities in the sector, believing words have the power to transform lives, support well-being and inspire action on issues like the climate emergency (Literature Wales). It works in Welsh, English and bilingually across Wales, with offices in Llanystumdwy and Cardiff, and is supported by the Arts Council of Wales alongside trusts, foundations, companies and individuals (Literature Wales). Cardiff University, which partners with it on community research, summarises the aim as supporting and developing “Wales’ oldest artform” by working collaboratively in a wide range of communities to make literature relevant for all (Cardiff University).

From Academi to Literature Wales

Literature Wales dates its own inception to 2011, when the writers’ development organisation Academi merged with Tŷ Newydd to create a single unified national organisation (Literature Wales). Its headquarters sat in Cardiff Bay — in the Glyn Jones Centre at the Wales Millennium Centre — until the organisation formally established the Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre as its new official home, keeping the capital office open as a working space for Cardiff-based staff (Literature Wales). The move made it the first of Wales’ national companies to plant its roots in the north, in Gwynedd, a county it describes as rich in culture and the arts (Literature Wales).

Tŷ Newydd had been the National Writing Centre of Wales since 1990, welcoming hundreds of writers from Wales and further afield to creative writing courses and retreats (Literature Wales). The house itself is part of the story: grade II* listed, with fifteenth-century origins and Georgian-period additions to its facade, it was redesigned in the 1940s by the Portmeirion architect Clough Williams-Ellis for the former prime minister David Lloyd George and his second wife Frances Stevenson — Lloyd George died there in 1945, and features from his residence remain, including the library’s light-fittings and a pink sink in Frances’ bedroom (Literature Wales). Today the centre runs one-day, residential and digital courses across poetry, prose, creative non-fiction and nature writing, with bursaries for writers who cannot pay course fees, discounts for local residents, and a parallel programme of free strategic courses for people under-represented in the literary world; it also hosts local writing and reading groups, welcomes schools, and delivers literature projects for health and well-being (Literature Wales).

Awards, laureates and programmes

Literature Wales has administered Wales Book of the Year since 2004 — the bilingual annual award for the best English- and Welsh-language books across poetry, fiction, children & young people and creative non-fiction (Literature Wales). Alongside the award it runs the National Poet of Wales scheme, a cultural ambassador role honouring innovative and highly regarded writers; the current holder is Hanan Issa (Literature Wales). For children and young people there are two parallel ambassadorial posts: Bardd Plant Cymru, which takes literature into schools through workshops, performances and activities (currently Siôn Tomos Owen), and Children’s Laureate Wales, which aims to engage and inspire the children of Wales through literature (currently Nicola Davies) (Literature Wales).

Writer development runs through several channels: bursaries, mentoring and courses at Tŷ Newydd (Cardiff University); the Representing Wales professional development programme for writers from under-represented backgrounds (Literature Wales); the Inspiring Communities Fund, which supports the fees paid to writers for literary events, and the Writers on Tour funding scheme for local organisers (Literature Wales; Cardiff University); Writing Squads — groups for more able and talented young writers — and the National Writing Squad (Cardiff University; Literature Wales). The South Wales Literature Development Initiative has run since 2007 in Torfaen, Caerphilly, Neath Port Talbot, the Vale of Glamorgan and Newport, offering transformative writing activities to people traditionally disengaged from mainstream arts and culture (Cardiff University). Other projects include Pencerdd, a Welsh-language opportunity for poets to develop the ancient craft of cynganeddu, and Llên mewn Lle, which explores the climate and nature emergency through literature (Literature Wales). An award-winning strand, Captured Memories, works with older people on their stories and experiences (Cardiff University).

What this profile does not claim

This profile does not date the organisation’s origins before 2011 from citable sources: the Academi’s earlier history (a 1959 founding as Academi Gymreig) rests on Wikipedia, which is a lead, not a citation. It does not attribute the Tir na n-Og children’s book awards to Literature Wales — the Books Council of Wales submission guidelines name CILIP Cymru Wales and the Books Council of Wales as the awards’ sponsors. It does not date the headquarters move, because the fetched Tŷ Newydd announcement carries no visible publication date. It does not describe the judging mechanics of Wales Book of the Year; full award detail is in the companion profile. Post-holders named as “current” are as listed on Literature Wales’s projects page when read on 2026-10-01, and these posts rotate.