Hay Festival Education’s Scribblers Cymraeg will bring writers direct to Year 7–9 pupils across Wales this autumn with workshops at Swansea University, Aberystwyth University, Cardiff University, Bangor University and Wrexham University. This will take place from Monday, November 4, to Friday, November 8, 2024.
Free for local state schools, Scribblers Cymraeg events tie in with the Welsh Government ambition to have one million Welsh speakers living in Wales by 2050.
Poet Aneirin Karadog will host this year’s tour with workshops delivered by presenter and author Siôn Tomos Owen and stand-up comedian Leila Navabi, while staff from each university will also deliver creative Welsh writing sessions and campus tours.
This year for the first time Scribblers Cymraeg sessions will also be extended to second- language Welsh pupils at Swansea University on Thursday 8 November in a special day of workshops run in association with Reaching Wider, a partnership of universities, schools and colleges in Wales working to improve social mobility.
Schools can sign up to take part in the free events now at hayfestival.org/scribblers/the-scribblers-tour.aspx
Scribblers Cymraeg and the English-language Scribblers Tour held earlier in the year both aim to engage and encourage the next generation in storytelling and conversation, inspiring empathy and creativity. Now in their thirteenth year, the tours give pupils a chance to engage with their nearest universities and experience life on campus too.
Hay Festival, one of the world’s leading cultural charities, was founded in Hay-on-Wye, Wales in 1987, providing audiences with dynamic platforms to come together to share ideas, different perspectives and provoke conversations that can create a better world.
Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said: “We believe that culture belongs to everyone. By taking writers direct to pupils all over Wales in free, creative workshops, Scribblers Cymraeg aims to widen access to Festival inspiration while prompting a love of literature at an early age.
“By taking part in our events, young people will find opportunities to explore their creativity, engage in fresh conversations, and discover new ways to express themselves and inspire their creative identities.”
Poet and Scribblers Cymraeg host Aneirin Karadog said: “Through the medium of Welsh, Scribblers Cymraeg has given rise to unique and far-reaching experiences for thousands of pupils.
“The opportunity to get involved with literature and creativity, making use of language resources in the pupils’ heads, has shown them that literature is not something dry that only belongs to books and the school, but rather, something alive and accessible, which enables us to put the imagination to work, giving expression to feelings and experiences. And it offers a huge amount of fun in the process!”
Hay Festival Education’s Scribblers Cymraeg and Scribblers Tour are funded by the Welsh Government and are part of Hay Festival’s wider outreach and education work that includes the free schools programmes at Festivals, and Hay Festival Academy in the UK, plus Hay Festival Joven and Hay Festival Communitario internationally. Last year, more than 15,000 school pupils enjoyed free access to Festival events globally.
Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle said: “Hay Festival Scribblers Cymraeg is a fantastic way of inspiring the next generation to use Welsh creatively, find their passion for stories and poetry and understand the power of storytelling.
“It also gives young people an opportunity to visit local universities, often for the first time. I hope to see lots of our young people getting involved.”
Audiences can support Hay Festival’s growing education and outreach work by becoming a Festival Member, Patron or Benefactor at hayfestival.org/support-us.