The Books Council of Wales‘ latest review of funding has led to a cut in financial support for long-standing Welsh arts magazines Planet and New Welsh Review, according to statements released by the publications.
Long-established arts and cultural magazines Planet and New Welsh Review have released statements announcing that their funding from the Books Council of Wales has been cut as a result of the recent financial review. Both publications have promised to comment further in time, but are taking time to process news of the funding cut. Planet has assured readers that it will publish its next edition in February, but the future for the magazine is uncertain.
Meanwhile, New Welsh Review has issued a similar statement assuring readers that the Directors and Board are currently considering options for the magazine. Both magazines have been stalwarts of the Welsh literary scene, with Planet celebrating fifty years of publishing in 2020 and New Welsh Review having been founded as a successor to earlier publications The Welsh Review, Dock Leaves and The Anglo-Welsh Review in 1988.
The news comes at a time of turbulence for the arts and cultural scene in Wales, following the Arts Council’s announcement earlier in the autumn that funding for National Theatre Wales would be cut with immediate effect. The announcement heralds further uncertainty about the future of cultural publications in Wales and has already been met with a sense of shock from across the sector.
Full details of which publications have been awarded funding has yet to be announced by the Books Council of Wales, but is expected shortly.
You can read a statement from Wales Arts Review regarding the future of Books Council of Wales funding and its implications for Wales Arts Review, here, along with Gary Raymond’s argument in favour of a new funding model for publishing in Wales.
