Seren Books

The press was founded in 1981 by Cary Archard, a teacher who was then the editor of the quarterly magazine Poetry Wales. He decided to branch into publishing poetry collections and gained funding from the Arts Council of Wales, initially on an ad hoc basis. At first known as Poetry Wales Press Ltd, it was published from Archard's home in Bridgend. According to the academic Sam Adams, Archard's twin initial aims were to encourage Welsh poets writing in the English language, particularly the younger generation; and to republish out-of-print works and thus make more sources available for teaching Welsh literature in English. In 1982, Poetry Wales Press received a block grant from the Arts Council of Wales, the first of its kind, which enabled it to set up an office in Bridgend and to appoint a full-time manager, Mick Felton. The grant later came from the Welsh Books Council; it was reassessed annually. The board of directors has included Abse (from 1989), the academic M. Wynn Thomas (1993–2003) and Patrick McGuinness (2004-present) Mick Felton retired as Publisher in 2023. Bronwen Price was appointed as CEO and Head of Editorial & Production in 2024[9]. Rhian Edwards and Zoë Brigley work as Seren Books' Poetry Co-Editor, having replaced editor Amy Wack in 2022. Seren Books ran the Seren Cardiff Poetry Festival from 2018 - 2021. The 2021 festival was held online due to COVID-19 pandemic. ==Authors and series==

Seren Books retains a strong poetry list, A classics series has republished important works by Rhys Davies, Caradoc Evans, Margiad Evans and Gwyn Thomas, which were first published by English publishers. Another project invites authors including Fflur Dafydd, Lloyd Jones and Gwyneth Lewis to recreate the Mabinogion in new settings. ==Reception==

The academic Lisa Sheppard describes Seren, together with Parthian and Cinnamon Press, as "among the foremost publishers of English-language writing in Wales". The Welsh poet Dannie Abse described Seren on its thirtieth anniversary in 2011 as a "vital element of the Welsh literary scene" and considers it to have contributed to the strength of English-language writing in Wales. The Welsh poet Tony Curtis said in an interview published in 1997 that "Seren's books look good, and their list is good. Some of it could improve, but that's part of the process"; he criticised the press's marketing for failing to get its books into bookshops. ==References==