Gomer Press (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

: ''Gwasg Gomer'') is a family printing (and formerly publishing) company based in

Llandysul Llandysul is a small town and community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. As a community it consists of the townships of Capel Dewi, Horeb, Pontsian, Pren-gwyn, Tregroes, Rhydowen and the village of Llandysul itself. Llandysul lies in sout ...

, west

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It was the largest publishing house in Wales.

History

The company was first established in 1892 and began as a general store and printer; it is owned by the same family to this day. Jonathan Lewis, the great grandson of the company's founder, became managing director in 1995. In September 2019, it was announced that Gomer would be closing their publishing arm to focus on printing. Its 55 employees were retained but would no longer publish new titles, of which it produced 36 in 2018. This marked the end of 66 years of publishing.

Publications

Specialising in books which have a distinctive Welsh identity, Gomer had four distinct lists:

English books for adults

The English list for adults features fiction, history, travel writing, biography, literature, cookery, sport, and visual arts. Authors and artists include

Gillian Clarke Gillian Clarke (born 8 June 1937) is a Welsh poet and playwright, who also edits, broadcasts, lectures and translates from Welsh into English. She co-founded Tŷ Newydd, a writers' centre in North Wales. Life Gillian Clarke was born on 8 J ...

, Jim Perrin,

Kyffin Williams Sir John Kyffin Williams, (9 May 1918 – 1 September 2006) was a Welsh landscape painter who lived at Pwllfanogl, Llanfairpwll, on the Island of Anglesey. Williams is widely regarded as the defining artist of Wales during the 20th century. Pe ...

, Eddie Butler, Jeremy Moore, and

Idris Davies Idris Davies (6 January 1905 – 6 April 1953) was a Welsh poet. Born in Rhymney, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, he became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English. He was the only poet to cover signific ...

English books for children

Pont Books Pont Books (" pont" being the Welsh word for bridge) is the name of the imprint for young people published by Gomer Press, the largest independent publishing house in Wales. Pont Books was launched in 1991. The logo shows its intention of building ...

is an imprint designed to produce English books with a Welsh connection for children. It has published the last seven books to win the

Tir na n-Og Award The Tir na n-Og Awards (abbreviated TnaO) are a set of annual children's literary awards in Wales from 1976. They are presented by the Books Council of Wales to the best books published during the preceding calendar year in each of three awards ca ...

from the

Welsh Books Council The Books Council of Wales (previously known as the Welsh Books Council) or Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru was established in 1961. Today it is funded by the Welsh Government. The council's aims are to promote the interests of Welsh language books and Engl ...

in the English-language category that honours the year's best book with "authentic Welsh background". Award winners include

Graham Howells Graham Howells is a Welsh illustrator and children's author. Howells was born in Antwerp, Belgium, and lived in Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore, and Germany, before moving to Pembrokeshire, west Wales. He has illustrated books for many other author ...

(2009),

Daniel Morden Daniel Morden (born 1964 in Cwmbran) is a Welsh storyteller in the oral tradition and a children's writer. Morden retells traditional stories from various cultures, in particular the Celtic and the ancient Greek. He has performed all over the worl ...

(2007 and 2013), and Jennifer Sullivan (2006 and 2012)."Tir na n-Og Awards"
.

(WBC). Retrieved 2012-06-08."Tir na n-Og awards Past Winners"
. WBC. Retrieved 2012-06-08.Tir-na-n-Og Awards 2013
.

Welsh books for children

Books for children of all ages in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it h ...

published by Gomer range from Smot's board books to teenage fiction. There are a number of different series, including ''Chwedlau o Gymru'' (''Legends from Wales'' series), ''Cyfres Llyffantod'' (''Hoppers'' series), and ''Cyfres Clwb Cysgu Cŵl'' (''Sleepover Club'' series), ''

Sali Mali Sali Mali is a popular Welsh children's book and television character, originally created by author Mary Vaughan Jones and illustrated by Rowena Wyn Jones during the 1960s and 1970s. Many Welsh-speaking children learnt to read by reading Sali Ma ...

'', ''Tudur Budr'' (''Dirty Bertie''), ''Helpwch Eich Plentyn'' (''Help Your Child''), ''Cyfres Lolipop'' (''Lollypop'' series), as well as a wide range of titles by prolific author and poet T. Llew Jones. From 2000 to 2012, at least six Gwasg Gomer publications have won one of the two annual Welsh-language Tir na n-Og Awards."Tir na n-Og awards Past Winners"
. WBC. Retrieved 2012-06-08.

Welsh books for adults

Gomer published the work of a number of the Welsh language's eminent literary figures, past and present, such as

Islwyn Ffowc Elis Islwyn Ffowc Elis (; 17 November 1924 – 22 January 2004) was one of Wales's most popular Welsh-language writers. Born Islwyn Ffoulkes Ellis in Wrexham and raised in Glyn Ceiriog, Elis was educated at the University of Wales colleges of Bangor ...

, T. Rowland Hughes,

Gwenallt David James Jones (18 May 1899 – 24 December 1968), commonly known by his bardic name Gwenallt, was a Welsh poet, critic, and scholar, and one of the most important figures of 20th-century Welsh-language literature. He created his bardic n ...

Hywel Teifi Edwards Hywel Teifi Edwards (15 October 1934 – 4 January 2010) was a Welsh academic and historian, a prominent Welsh nationalist, a broadcaster and an author in the Welsh language. He was the father of the BBC journalist Huw Edwards. ...

Angharad Price Angharad Price is a Welsh academic and novelist. She is a recipient of the Glyndŵr Award. Biography Price was born in Bethel, Gwynedd, Wales, the daughter of the Welsh historian . She graduated with a BA and DPhil in Modern Languages from ...

Fflur Dafydd Fflur Dafydd (born 1 August 1978) is a Welsh novelist, singer-songwriter and musician. Though mainly publishing in Welsh, she also writes in English. She contributes regularly in Welsh to Radio Cymru. Early life Dafydd is the daughter of Welsh ...

, and Owen Martell. There were also two bilingual series: ''Trosiadau''/''Translations'' and ''Cip ar Gymru''/''Wonder Wales''.

References

{{Authority control Publishing companies of Wales Companies based in Ceredigion Publishing companies established in 1892