Creative Circles Cymru

Creative Circles Cymru is a voluntary initiative I founded to encourage writers from Wales to come together and support each other through workshops, mentoring and advocacy, in the hope of fostering new collaborations.

My own experience as a writer in Wales started in the middle of the pandemic. It was hard, initially to connect with people. Together with my friend Jonathan Macho, we co-created Writers on Reading, a podcast to showcase the work of independently published Welsh writers at a time when bookshops and festivals had closed down. We met lots of amazing talents and developed links with most of the independent publishers in Wales. We interviewed over 50 authors over a two-year period, with no funding and not support.

Fast forward three years, and in 2023 I was invited to be a Writer at Work at the Hay Festival. By contrast, the experience was mind blowing. This programme for emerging writers can be life changing and I will always be grateful to the festival, Literature Wales and Tiffany Murray for the incredible chance.

Since then though, I discovered that when you are a full-time writer in Wales, there is little support beyond those ‘emerging’ years. Funding is extremely limited, the average income for a writer in Wales is estimated to be below £4,000 a year (compared to £8,000 for the rest of the UK), and according to a recent research project from Aberystwyth University, in Wales particularly, being a writer is seen as a leisurely activity, and not a ‘proper job’.

Even the bodies whose function is to support literature in Wales work on the premise that writers have a subsidiary income. As a result, the profession is structurally underpaid, opportunities are limited and there is no long term investment to help build a writer’s career. In 2025, I spoke to many talented writers who were thinking about giving up or moving elsewhere.

I have a background in community-organisation and campaigning and I have seen first hand what can happen when individuals get together and support one another. This is what prompted Creative Circles Cymru. A place where we can come together and work on long-term solutions.

If you are a writer in Wales, especially one who is considered ‘established’, I need you. Get in touch, sign up to my newsletter. Let’s see what we can achieve, together.