Y Pwyllgor Diwylliant, y Gymraeg a Chwaraeon

Adolygiad Polisi: Ysgrifennu cyfrwng Saesneg yng Nghymru

The Arts Council of Wales’ response

The Arts Council of Wales (ACW) welcomes this inquiry by the Committee and the opportunity to contribute to it. Welsh writing in English is a crucial element in our cultural landscape and contains much of genuine quality but does not command the level of recognition, or sales success, which has been achieved within other fields. Wales has enjoyed very considerable success in the field of popular music, our actors and singers are known the world over, the Welsh National Opera is of undisputed world class and this year, for the first time, our visual artists have made their mark in Venice, and our leading crafts people in Chicago - at the leading events in their field. The current interest in Dylan Thomas on the 50^th anniversary of his death shows there is a ready audience for Welsh literature, where the work is of genuine international standard and effectively marketed. The Arts Council of Wales has provided extensive support to Welsh writing in both languages for many years. Others submissions have referred to the way in which the Council was central to establishing a literary infrastructure in Wales in the second half of the 20^th century. This has included support for writers and for publishers, and this support continues through our funding of Academi, as the agency for literature and Sgript Cymru, as the leading force for new writing for the theatre. Following the review by this Committee’s predecessor of support for publishing, the Council has has transferred responsibility for publishing - and funds of more than £960k - to the Welsh Books Council (WBC) for their work in both English and Welsh. ACW is committed to working in close partnership with WBC to ensure that strategies are complementary and that maximum value is obtained from scarce public investment. ACW’s continuing direct support for Welsh writing in English falls within 4 categories. First, and most significant, is the support for Academi, for their own programmes, for bursaries and to provide ongoing policy advice to the Council. In the current year, this support exceeds £570k. The nature of ACW’s relationship to Academi is different in kind fromo that with the majority of other revenue clients, in that Academi deliver work on behalf of the Council, and not simply on their own account. Academi have now also taken on administration of the Book of the Year prize for the Council. The prize is potentially of great value in promoting the work of Welsh writers, and in order to maximise its potential, discussions are underway designed to seek greater sponsorship and an improved profile for the shortlisted books and the winners. Effort is also being focused on improved marketing of the books, with a particular aspiration to break through to the commercial bookselling sector. The Book of the Year prize is traditionally associated with the Hay Book Festival, which is also funded by ACW, and currently receives £37k. The festival is enormously successful and internationally recognised. ACW, in conjunction with Academi and the Wales Books Council, is working to secure a higher profile for Welsh books and Welsh authors at the Festival. ACW also supports Ty Newydd, the writers’ centre in North Wales. In the current year the revenue funding stands at more than £100k and a further £900k of Lottery capital funding has been committed to the development of the building. Ty Newydd offers residential courses to writers to assist them in developing their craft, and, as with Academi, much of this work focuses on young people. Finally, ACW also supports the work of Sgript Cymru in developing new writing for theatre in Wales. The grant in the current year stands at £285k. Almost all of the support identified here is for writing in both languages. Access to markets ACW is aware that this level of support is not adequate to achieve the transformation in the sector which is undoubtedly desirable. The Welsh language sector is relatively self-contained, and by comparison, is achieving greater penetration of its intended market. However, English language writing has to compete within UK and global marketplaces. The fundamental difference is that key publishers are not located within Wales, nor are the headquarters of the leading booksellers. By comparison, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland both have indigenous commercial publishers which do provide a market for books from their respective countries, and a books trade which promotes their output. In Wales, despite the long tradition of committed independent booksellers, the majority of booksales are via multiples headquartered in England, and increasingly, via supermarkets and the Internet. Achieving access to these outlets will be crucially dependent on sales potential. Their criteria for stocking is profitability, and they will not be swayed by approaches based on good intentions. Large investments in marketing the right product and the development of marketing expertise are required in order to break into these marketplaces. ACW supports the work of WBC, and particularly, its new marketing strategy. ACW’s work with publishers was necessarily connected with poetry and literary fiction. The need to provide a marketplace for literary fiction in particular remains, but the success of Welsh authors in a commercial context requires a different approach, and the combination of all responsibility for the support for publishing into WBC should enable them to develop the entrepreneurial approach that is required. Critical Forum Another vital aspect of a successful revival of English language writing in Wales will be the availability of a suitable critical forum as well as mass market platforms. The small circulation periodicals play an important part in maintaining a critical dialogue about Welsh writing in English, but this alone is not sufficient to create the momentum required to bring this discussion of the work of Welsh writers to a wider audience. During the extensive consultation conducted by ACW in developing its five year strategy, Supporting Creativity, the lack of the equivalent of the broadsheet daily and Sunday newspapers which play such a key role in the literary and artistic worlds elsewhere in the UK and Ireland was often identified as a shortcoming. Such a platform draws books to the attention of the potential readership, and also contributes to a critical debate which helps to improve and maintain standards over time. ACW, in conjunction with WBC and the Academi, is in discussion with the newspaper industry to seek to develop the current coverage to address, at least in part, this shortfall. Included in this discussion is an exploration of links between existing periodicals and newspapers to see whether a wider audience can be found for the work of quality already being produced and ways of getting more appropriate and focused information to from the publishers and publicists to the newspapers themselves. Drama The under-funding of drama in Wales has been one of the issues at the top of the Council’s agenda. As with literature, the lack of access to a marketplace fundamentally undermines any attempt to develop new writers and new writing. ACW has been systematically addressing this through major initiatives on two fronts, Theatre in Education and Welsh Language Theatre. Theatr Genedlaethol, the nation Welsh language company, is now established and due to commence productions in Spring 2004. The annual cost of the company when established will exceed £1 million. Similarly, a major investment in the expansion of the theatre in education companies is now underway, and the intention is to move to an approach based on 'entitlement’, such that all young people will have access to at least one production at each key stage. The current tranche of additional funding is £800k, but more than a £1 million extra would be needed for the full vision to be achieved. Despite this progress, ACW is all too aware of the relative lack of production of English language theatre in Wales. The work of Clwyd Theatre Cymru is well known, and of an international standard. Other revenue companies, including the Torch Theatre and the Sherman, for example, suffer from historic under funding and produce excellent work despite their financial circumstances. Urban South Wales has no full time companies producing theatre for adult audiences, and the Council is very well aware that the position of theatre in the English language is one of the areas which must be addressed. Any further development of support for new writing will be futile unless there are outlets for the work, and ACW therefore proposes to develop an action plan within the current financial year. This action plan will need to propose a way forward for drama production which embraces work for mainstages in Cardiff, Mold and Swansea, for the excellent network of venues now being completed across Wales, and for smaller non-traditional and community venues. Future support for new writing for theatres in English will need to be developed within this context. Significant progress on this front will not be achieved without investment on a significant scale. The proposed funding for arts outside Cardiff can play some part, but will not of itself prove sufficient. The future development of Sgript Cymru as the agency to support new writing will need to be integrated into the overall pattern developed. ACW wishes to see the development of work by Welsh playwrights which takes its rightful place in the repertoire, and is not confined to a limited number of performances by a specialist company. However, without a broad production base, achieved through significant investment, this aspiration will not be achieved. It also the case that internationally, only a very small number of playwrights are able to devote their time exclusively to writing for the stage. Many have a portfolio of work which may also include writing for the broadcast media, for film, or for publication. There is therefore evident merit in seeking to get some degree of joining up between the differing support mechanisms within these fields and ACW is promoting discussions between, for example, Sgript Cymru, Sgrin and Academi. Finally, the capacity to produce drama in English has undoubtedly been hit by reductions in Lottery funding, as the companies which produce one-off work have now got less access to funds. Local authorities in Wales do not generally fund drama production, and thus the dependence of the sector on ACW is almost total, making it very susceptible to the continuing downward trend in Lottery funding. One notable recent exception to the trend in local authority expenditure is Swansea, with their support for Michael Bogdanov’s production of Under Milk Wood. In addition, of course, Flintshire support the work of CTC, but their grant has been reduced substantially in recent times. Conclusions It can come as no great surprise that an area of Welsh culture which is underperforming to the extent which is perceived to be the case here, would benefit from increased investment. Some of this investment needs to be within publishing and marketing, and falls very much within the remit of the Books Council. Investment is also needed in the development of the critical fora without which no artform can develop and thrive. More funding needs to go into author support and development, both through Academi and also through enhancing the programmes of Ty Newydd. Ensuring that funding for authors, whether in the form of bursaries or for performing their work, is comparable to that available elsewhere, especially across the border, is one step which would greatly help to improve morale, but would also make a career in writing sustainable for a greater number of potential entrants. This paper does not specifically address education, but there are some fundamental issues which are not exclusive to literature. Principal among these is the overall profile of Welsh art in general within the curriculum. A higher profile and better marketing of the work of Welsh novelists, poets and playwrights will encourage our young people to develop an appreciation for their work and provide a future market, as well as be inspired to become the next generation of writers. If this work is to feature in schools, then there will also be a need to ensure that more of the work is in print, especially play scripts. It is worth reflecting that the curriculum tends to drive a significant element of theatre production in Wales through the production of set plays but also the adaptation of set novels. Consequently, a change to the curriculum has also got potential benefits for the presence of Welsh writing in English on our stages. The development of drama writing will need to be based on a healthy production sector, and ACW proposals for this will be developed by March, in conjunction with the sector. Finally, it must be stated that English language writing has not been uniquely under-funded. The difficult funding position in the arts has been exacerbated by the reduction in Lottery funds. These reductions have tended to counteract the large increases in funding made available by the Welsh assembly Government. Some important advances e.g. in theatre in education and Welsh language theatre, have been made, but significant progress in promoting Welsh writing in the English language will need new investment. Arts Council of Wales
November 2003