The Arts Council has announced funding for the Literature Sector of some €1.9 million. That figure is down 13.48% in 2009 because of overall budget cuts.

In an accompanying statement the Council said:

Faced with a particularly difficult budgetary environment – the Council has €9 million less to invest in the arts than in 2009 – it has not been possible to maintain the same level of funding to the same number of organisations as in the past. A number of organisations will cease to be funded under the three main grants programmes.

Among the biggest losers in the sector in percentage terms were:

The Yeats’ Society Sligo*
Plearaca
Cyphers
Coisceim
and
Mercier Press

In terms of value there were significant cut for many including Poetry Ireland, Carysfort Press and Ireland Literature Exchange. The complete list of awards for the sector is here including amounts lost/gained and percentage change on 2009.

* UPDATE: Sarah Bannan (head of literature at the Arts Council) has been in touch to let us know that The Yeat’s Society did not apply for funding this year.