The Black Book of Carmarthen is thought to be the earliest surviving manuscript written solely in Welsh. The book dates from the mid-13th century; its name comes from its association with the Priory of St. John the Evangelist and Teulyddog at Carmarthen, and is referred to as black due to the colour of its binding. It is currently part of the collection of the National Library of Wales, where it is catalogued as NLW Peniarth MS 1.
The Four Branches of the Mabinogi or Pedair Cainc Y Mabinogi are the earliest prose stories in the literature of Britain. Originally written in Wales in Middle Welsh, but widely available in translations, the Mabinogi is generally agreed to be a single work in four parts, or "branches." The interrelated tales can be read as mythology, political themes, romances, or magical fantasies. They appeal to a wide range of readers, from young children to the most sophisticated adult. The tales are popular today in book format, as storytelling or theatre performances; they appear in recordings and on film, and continue to inspire many reinterpretations in artwork and modern fiction.
The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently administered by Literature Wales, and supported by the Arts Council of Wales, Welsh Government and the Welsh Books Council.
Bethan Gwanas is a popular contemporary Welsh author, who publishes almost exclusively in the Welsh language. A prolific writer, she has had 17 titles published in the last decade. Whilst not just a fiction writer, she has written novels for teenagers and Welsh learners, though most of her recent work has been for adults.
Richard Davies (Mynyddog) was a popular Welsh-language poet, singer, and Eisteddfod conductor. The original source of the name Mynyddog is from Newydd Fynyddog, a hill near his home. Another submission is the name comes from Mynyddog Mwynfawr, a character in an early Welsh poem. Use of an adopted Welsh-language pseudonym or bardic name is common among Welsh poets.
Nebo is a small village in Gwynedd, Wales. It is adjacent to the small village of Nasareth and near the larger villages of Llanllyfni and Penygroes.
The Tir na n-Og Awards are a set of annual children's literary awards in Wales from 1976. They are presented by the Books Council of Wales to the best books published during the preceding calendar year in each of three awards categories, one English-language and two Welsh-language. Their purpose is "[to raise] the standard of children's and young people's books and to encourage the buying and reading of good books." There is no restriction to fiction or prose. Each prize is £1,000.
Gwyneth Glyn is a Welsh language poet and musician.
Steve Eaves is a Welsh poet, songwriter and singer, working in the Welsh language. He has lived for most of his life in the Bangor area of North Wales. He has been a performing musician for over 45 years. During the late 1960s and early 1970s he worked as a labourer and musician, with frequent forays to Chester, Crewe and other locations to perform at folk clubs and underground venues of the period. He also performed at the now legendary Les Cousins folk club in Soho, sharing the floor spot with legendary blues singer Jo Ann Kelly. He also performed with various 'underground' luminaries of the time such as Al Stewart, Tea and Symphony, and the Sutherland Brothers.
Angharad Tomos is a Welsh author and prominent language activist. She is a recipient of the Tir na n-Og Award.
Myrddin ap Dafydd is a Welsh writer, publisher and chaired bard. In 2018 he was elected Archdruid of Wales.
Gareth Finlay Williams was a Welsh language author who wrote novels for children and adults, as well as creating many television drama series.
This article is about the particular significance of the year 2018 to Wales and its people.
Roger Boore was a Welsh-language publisher and author who founded the Welsh publishing house Dref Wen.
Guto Dafydd is a Welsh poet and novelist, who writes in the Welsh language. He has twice won the Crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales and is twice winner of the Daniel Owen Prize for a novel.
Lleucu Roberts is a Welsh author.
Caryl Lewis is a Welsh novelist. She won the Wales Book of the Year in 2005 with her novel Martha Jac a Sianco, which was adapted into a film in 2008.
Cyfoesi Myrddin a Gwenddydd ei Chwaer is an anonymous Middle Welsh poem of uncertain date consisting of 136 stanzas, mostly in englyn form. Myrddin, the legendary 6th-century North British bard and warrior, is depicted as being encouraged by his sister Gwenddydd to utter a series of prophecies detailing the future history of the kings of Gwynedd, leading up to an apocalyptic ending. The mood of the poem has been described as "one of despair and of loss of faith and trust in this world".
Meg Ann Elis, also known as Marged Dafydd or Margaret Dafydd, is a Welsh writer, translator and language activist. She stood unsuccessfully as a Plaid Cymru candidate for the Delyn constituency in the National Assembly for Wales election in 1999 and again in 2007.
Rhiannon Ifans, FLSW is a Welsh academic specialising in English, Medieval and Welsh literature. She was an Anthony Dyson Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, in University of Wales Trinity St. David. She twice won a Tir na-n-Og prize for her work and won the literary medal competition at the Welsh Eisteddfod, for her 2019 debut novel, Ingrid, which was chosen for the Welsh Literature Exchange Bookshelf. In 2020, Ifans was elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
