Seren Books is a small independent publisher of English language books by authors living in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Seren's aim is to bring Welsh literature to a wider audience. The press takes its name from the Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 word for 'star'.

Founded in 1981, the press initially focused on poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and it retains a strong poetry list, including the quarterly magazine Poetry Wales

Poetry Wales

Poetry Wales is a quarterly magazine published in Bridgend, Wales in the UK. It publishes poetry, articles and reviews.Poetry Wales was founded by Meic Stephens in 1965, and has since been edited by Sam Adams, John Powell Ward , Cary Archard, Mike Jenkins , Richard Poole , Robert Minhinnick and...

, edited by Zoe Skoulding

Zoë Skoulding

Zoë Skoulding , is a poet, writer, musician, performer, and also a lecturer in creative writing.Since 1994 she has edited the creative writing magazine Skald, more recently alongside co-editor Ian Davidson with whom she also writes collaboratively, and is the current editor of Poetry Wales.She has...

. It has since branched into fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

, drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

, literary criticism

Literary criticism

Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...

, biography

Biography

A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...

 and non-fiction

Non-fiction

Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...

. Seren currently publishes 20–25 titles annually with the aid of financial support from the Welsh Books Council

Welsh Books Council

The Welsh Books Council or Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru was established in 1961 under the name of Cyngor Llyfrau Cymraeg . Today it is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. The Council's aims are to promote the interest in Welsh language books and English language books of interest to Wales...

. The press is based in Bridgend

Bridgend

Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...

.

Seren's list includes the well-known poets Sheenagh Pugh

Sheenagh Pugh

Sheenagh Pugh is a British poet, novelist and translator who writes in the English language.-Life:Sheenagh Pugh studied languages at the University of Bristol. She now lives in Shetland but lived for many years in Cardiff and taught creative writing at the University of Glamorgan until retiring in...

 and Pascale Petit

Pascale Petit

Pascale Petit is a poet. She grew up in France and Wales. She trained as a sculptor at the Royal College of Art and was a visual artist for the first part of her life...

, as well as younger, award-winning Welsh poets Owen Sheers

Owen Sheers

Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet, author, playwright, actor and TV presenter.-Biography:Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji in 1974 and brought up in Abergavenny, South Wales...

 and Kathryn Gray. Novelists include Richard Collins, whose debut work, The Land as Viewed from the Sea, was shortlisted for a Whitbread Award

Costa Book Awards

The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in Great Britain and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship....

 in 2004; and Lloyd Jones whose novel Mr Cassini won the English-language Wales Book of the Year

Wales Book of the Year

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...

 award in 2007. Amongst other writers are Dannie Abse

Dannie Abse

Daniel Abse, better known as Dannie Abse , is a Welsh poet.-Early years:Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales to a Jewish family. He is the younger brother of politician and reformer Leo Abse and the eminent psychoanalyst, Wilfred Abse...

, Ruth Bidgood

Ruth Bidgood

Ruth Bidgood is a British poet.She was born at Blaendulais, Seven Sisters near Neath. Her Welsh-speaking father was a priest in Port Talbot, where Ruth was brought up...

, Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis (Welsh poet)

Tony Curtis FRSL is an Anglo-Welsh poet.Curtis was born in Carmarthen and educated at the University of Wales, Swansea. He subsequently studied for the MFA degree at Goddard College, Vermont, becoming the only British writer ever to graduate from that course.His debut in print was Three Young...

, Rhys Davies

Rhys Davies

Rhys Davies was a Welsh novelist and short story writer, who wrote in the English language....

, Dic Edwards

Dic Edwards

Dic Edwards is a British playwright and poet with more than 20 productions to his name. Born in Cardiff Edwards has often found himself at odds with his Welsh background...

, Catherine Fisher

Catherine Fisher

Catherine Fisher is an author, broadcaster and adjudicator who lives in Newport. Her former jobs include working as a primary school teacher and archaeologist. She also taught Writing for Children at the University of Glamorgan....

, Raymond Garlick

Raymond Garlick

Raymond Garlick was an Anglo-Welsh poet and editor. Garlick was born in London, but grew up in Llandudno, and studied English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor. Whilst there, he converted to Roman Catholicism, although no longer a practising Catholic...

, Paul Groves

Paul Groves

Paul Groves is an English former footballer who notably captained and managed Grimsby Town. He was naturally a central midfield player, but later in his career was used as a central defender...

, Paul Henry

Paul Henry (poet)

Paul Henry is an award-winning British poet who was born in Aberystwyth. He was originally a singer-songwriter.-History:After winning a Gregory Award in 1989 he refused an offer from an English publisher, electing instead for the Welsh based company Seren...

, Glyn Jones, Alun Lewis

Alun Lewis

Alun Lewis , was a poet of the Anglo-Welsh school, and is regarded by many as Britain's finest Second World War poet.- Education :...

, Gary Ley

Gary Ley

Gary Ley is a Welsh writer and sculpture technician, based in Rhossili on the Gower Peninsula.Born in Swansea, Ley studied Geography at university and had a career as a teacher and lecturer before being involved in the setting up of a sculpture business in 1988...

, Christopher Meredith

Christopher Meredith

- Personal life :He was educated at Tredegar Comprehensive school and later studied philosophy and English at Aberystwyth University. He has a wife and two sons, Rhodri and Steffan...

, Edward Thomas

Edward Thomas (poet)

Philip Edward Thomas was an Anglo-Welsh writer of prose and poetry. He is commonly considered a war poet, although few of his poems deal directly with his war experiences. Already an accomplished writer, Thomas turned to poetry only in 1914...

, R. S. Thomas

R. S. Thomas

Ronald Stuart Thomas was a Welsh poet and Anglican clergyman, noted for his nationalism, spirituality and deep dislike of the anglicisation of Wales...

 and John Tripp

John Tripp (poet)

John Tripp was an Anglo-Welsh poet and short-story writer.Born in Bargoed, Wales, he worked for the BBC as a journalist with the BBC, and later became a civil servant. He edited the literary magazine, Planet, and was a popular performance poet...

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