Call on the Welsh Government

Call on the Welsh Government to restore funding for Welsh language publishers

Cymdeithas yr Iaith have sent an open letter to Mark Drakeford, the cabinet secretary with responsibility for the Welsh language, calling on the Welsh Government to reverse the "severe and damaging" cuts to the Welsh language publishing sector.

According to the Books Council for Wales, the cuts to its budget for Welsh language publications are equivalent to 40% in real terms over the last ten years, which has led to a 34% cut in the number of Welsh books published by the main publishers with grant support.

The organisation has called on the Welsh Government to restore the level of funding to what it was in 2010, and for it to be protected for the future, saying that not doing so would jeopardise the Government's efforts in their Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers strategy.

In the letter, Joseff Gnagbo, National Chair of the Cymdeithas yr Iaith, writes:

“The impact of these cuts is both highly significant and damaging as regards jeopardising the future of the publishing companies and jobs, often located within Welsh communities and that require skills in the Welsh language. 

“The contribution of writers and poets and the publishing sector is essential to the future of the Welsh language and Welsh culture, along with contributing to achieving the Welsh Government's goals in their Cymraeg 2050 strategy to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050 and to double the proportion of the population that use the language every day.

“We call on you to reconsider these cuts and to restore the level of funding for Welsh publishers that is provided through the Books Council of Wales to what it was in 2010, and to protect this budget in the coming years as part of implementing the Government’s commitment to ensuring a sustainable future for the Welsh language.”

Several leading individuals in the field, such as Lefi Gruffudd, editorial head of Y Lolfa press, Myrddin ap Dafydd and Llio Meirion, Directors of Gwasg Carreg Gwalch and Ashley Drake, acting chair of Publishing Wales, have already expressed concern over the future of welsh language publishing.