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The publication of The Library of Wales series, of Welsh literary works in English, was funded by the Welsh Government as a direct result of evidence given to the National Assembly of Wales by Thomas. The evidence was based on research carried out at Swansea University, and made the case for bringing a neglected but artistically and culturally important body of literature back into print. Since 2008 the series, edited by Smith, has delivered economic benefit to its publisher; provided new content for cultural tourism events; raised awareness of Welsh writing in English amongst new audiences; and made new material available for educational and creative purposes.
Creative Writing research projects funded by the British Council have created a transformative educational environment for African writers, developing life-changing training programmes. Designed and delivered by the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University, and led by Dr (now Professor) Graham Mort, these projects pioneered eMentoring and new online teaching pedagogies, engaging directly with over 300 African writers across 9 African countries, whilst creating outreach activity through a literary festival that engaged writers from 18 African countries and the UK.
Three phases of cumulative practice-led research have helped to nurture a new generation of African writers with each project leading into the next:
Since 1997 Professor Jane Aaron has been the founding and continuing editor of the series `Welsh Women's Classics', published by the independent Welsh feminist press Honno with the aim of bringing back into print virtually forgotten texts, prefaced by scholarly introductions. Twenty-two volumes have appeared in the series to date, five of which Aaron edited and introduced. Their impact on the reading public and on higher educational institutions in Wales has been considerable; far more Welsh women writers — the majority of them published in the series — are taught, researched and read today than in the mid-1990s.
D.J. Britton's play about Lloyd George, aimed at post-devolution Wales, created a bottom-up artistic and commercial model that involved potential audiences in the creative process. The play toured remote rural locations as well as towns, achieving unusually high audiences for a drama of this kind. Its reach was further extended through a BBC broadcast on the 150th anniversary of Lloyd George's birth. The play stimulated considerable public discussion of national history. A direct impact was a £20,000 grant from the Arts Council of Wales to pursue the creative and audience development processes with another play. The innovative methodologies also attracted international attention at Singapore Management University's Arts/Business Conference for practitioners, arts organisations and businesses.
Bhutan is a little visited and understood Himalayan kingdom, from which over 100,000 ethnic Nepali refugees have fled since the late 1990s as a result of the Bhutanese government's exclusive nationalist project. Professor Michael Hutt's research into the history and culture of Bhutan and Nepal, particularly his book Unbecoming Citizens (2003), has been crucial to improving international public understanding of this population, enabling the refugees' story to be told on the world stage. It has also had wider impacts beyond academia, including inspiring a best-selling short story collection that was shortlisted for the 2013 Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers.
Until the Centre for Media and Culture in Small Nations was established in 2006, there was no coherent, multidisciplinary programme of research examining the creative industries through the distinct framework of small nations, including Wales. By drawing together researchers from diverse arts and media disciplines, the Centre has provided a thorough analysis of the creative industries in Wales and informed public debate on their artistic, social and economic contribution to the nation's civic life. Our original research has delivered new insights for organisations, and their users, including BBC Wales, National Theatre Wales, the Welsh Music Foundation and community radio.