ac Olwen, Lleuad yn Olau, Llyfr Hwiangerddi y Dref Wen have been published. In 1979,
the Welsh arts Council established, with the College of Librarianship, Wales, the Welsh
National Centre for Children’s Literature, which amalgamated with the Welsh Books
Council in 1990.
The year 1978 proved to be a landmark in the history of publishing for children when
the Council for the Welsh Language published a report, Publishing in the Welsh
Language. In 1979, as a result of this report, direct government grant aid was made
available for children’s publishing for the first time, and the Welsh Books Council was
asked to administrate this new grant and to have the authority to commission books for
recreational reading. This led to studying the provision for children and arranging to fill
the gaps. As well as administrating grants to Welsh publishers, the Welsh Books
Council’s Commissions Panel meet twice a year to discuss possibilities and to suggest a
specific programme. The first book to emerge was an original, full-colour ABC book,
Llyfr ABC (1981); since then, we have seen many picture books for children such as
Congrinero (1983), Ben y Garddwr (1988) and Drama’r Nadolig (1989). This panel is alert
to the gaps in the market, and for example commissioned ‘Cyfres Corryn’ (1983–1992), a
series of novels for children aged 7–10 years; over forty titles have appeared in this
series. As one gap is filled another always becomes evident, and in 1991 a series of lively
novels for the 9–12 age group, ‘Cyfres Cled’, was launched to bridge the gap between the
readers of ‘Cyfres Corryn’ and young adult novels. ‘Llyfrau Lloerig’ is another example, a
series of books for the 6 to 9-year-olds. In recent years, the Welsh Books Council have
worked closely together in order to finance ambitious projects such as Gwyddoniadur
Mawr y Plant (1991), a translation of Macmillan’s Children’s Encyclopedia; ‘Llyfrau
Llygad-dyst’ (1993-), translations of some of Dorling Kindersley’s ‘Eye Witness Guides’;
and D.Geraint Lewis’s Geiriadur Gomer i’r Ifanc (1994) an illustrated dictionary with over
22,000 Welsh definitions. In 1995 the Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales
(ACAC) began commissioning projects to produce educational material both bilingual
and in Welsh, by tendering for subvention costs. In 1983, Clwb Sbondonics, the Book
Council’s Welsh-language book club for 6 to 11-year-old children was launched, and
books are commissioned to meet the needs of the club.
In 1976 the Tir na n-Og Awards (named after the land of eternal youth in Irish
mythology) were established. Their main purpose is to raise the standard of children’s
and young people’s books and to encourage the buying and reading of good books.
Prizes are awarded annually to acknowledge the work of authors and illustrators in
three categories: Welsh fiction—original Welsh-language novels, stories and picture
books; Welsh non-fiction—every other Welsh-language books published, with the
exception of translations; and the English section—the best English-language book with
an authentic Welsh background. Both fiction and non-fiction originated in English are
eligible, but translations from Welsh or any other language are not. The prize for each
category (currently £1,000) is sponsored by the Welsh Arts Council, the Welsh Library
Association and the Welsh Books Council. Some major Welsh authors who have won the
Tir na n-Og Welsh prize include T.Llew Jones, Emily Huws, J.Selwyn Lloyd, Mair Wynn
Hughes, Gweneth Lilly, Angharad Tomos and the late Gwenno Hywyn and Irma
Chilton.
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