Introduction
Roger Boore is a British Welsh-language publisher and author who founded the Dref Wen publishing house in Wales.
Life and work
Boore was born in Cardiff, Wales. in 1938.He grew up in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, attending Warwick School. He was awarded a degree in Classics (“Literae Humaniores”) at Jesus College, Oxford, in 1961 and a PhD in History at University of Wales Swansea in 2005. He is qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Boore started learning the Welsh language in his teens.
In 1969-70 Boore and his wife Anne founded Dref Wen in Cardiff.It was the first Welsh press to focus mainly on full-colour Welsh language books for children, thus transforming this aspect of the Welsh book market and of Welsh culture.
Dref Wen under Boore's management produced bilingual and educational books for children. Its publications included Llyfr Hwiangerddi y Dref Wen (the standard Welsh nursery rhyme collection), Y Geiriadur Lliwgar (Welsh children’s dictionary), the “Welsh History Stories” series and the “From Start to Finish” series on religions (both series being issued in both Welsh and English). Boore translated many Dref Wen books into Welsh, from a variety of languages.
In 1997 Boore received the Mary Vaughan Jones Award for his “notable contribution to the field of children’s books in Wales over a period of years” and in 2016 was elected to the Gorsedd of Bards of the National Eisteddfod of Wales for his “special contribution to Wales and the Welsh language”.
Boore retired in 1999.
Boore won the short story competition in the 1971 National Eisteddfod and the Prose Medal at the 1972 Pantyfedwen Eisteddfod. He has published one collection of short stories, one children’s novel, and, since his retirement from publishing, a series of five travel books.
Awards and honours
- Elected to Gorsedd of Bards, National Eisteddfod of Wales, 2016
- Mary Vaughan Jones Award, 1997
- Prose Medal, Pantyfedwen Eisteddfod 1972
- Winner short story competition, National Eisteddfod of Wales, 1971