Wales Arts Review’s Editor, Emma Schofield, announces an exciting new era for the Review.
It’s been around five months since I took over the role of Editor at Wales Arts Review and, in that time, the words of Raymond Williams have begun to ring frequently in my ears. Williams’ assertion that “culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language” has never seemed more true than now, a time when it feels as if we are being asked, almost daily, to defend who we are and what we stand for. The arts in Wales, the people who deliver them, the buildings that house them and the teams that nurture and support them, are facing unprecedented challenges and yet, they continue to flourish. Never has a dedicated, independent platform from which to champion, critique and challenge the arts in Wales been more needed. Which is why I’m so excited to announce the start of a new era for Wales Arts Review.
This week we begin that new era with the launch our Wales Arts Review Substack page. Substack will not, of course, replace the Wales Arts Review site, but provides us with another platform from which to offer access to our coverage of books, theatre, film and TV, politics, music and the visual arts in Wales. This expansion comes at an important moment for the Review; we’ve been delighted to introduce some new voices to our team of regular writers and reviewers recently, and we have a number of exciting new projects to bring you in the coming months. We very much hope that our new Substack page will enable us to continue to engage with our community of readers, while also welcoming new subscribers and bringing lively debate about culture in Wales to new audiences. We’ll be further announcing details of some of our additional projects over the next few weeks.
Regular subscribers to our weekly newsletter will already be aware that our newsletter is also on the move to Substack. The ‘Wales Arts Review Weekly Update’ will remain free, but will provide us with an opportunity to bring you even more content, news and reviews about the arts in Wales every weekend. If you currently subscribe to the existing newsletter, you will continue to receive the new Substack version as normal, although it may be worth checking your mailbox settings to ensure that it reaches your inbox. If you’re not already a subscriber to our newsletter, but would like to receive a weekly round-up of news, reviews, interviews and features from our writers (and let’s face it, why wouldn’t you?), you can subscribe on the new page.
We were fortunate to spend a portion of our time last year celebrating the exceptional work carried out by the Review in its first decade, publishing an anthology to mark our 10 year anniversary and reflecting on some of the brilliant pieces published by our writers in that first ten years. As we move into this new phase of the Review’s development, we hope you’ll join us as we continue to give passionate and informed critics from Wales, and beyond, a platform for expression. There’s plenty more to come.
Take a look at the new Wales Arts Review Substack page, here.
