It is difficult to discover exactly how many books are published in Wales each year, but it’s an eye-opener to look at the list of new and forthcoming titles on the Books Council of Wales website: www.gwales.com. The newly formed industry body Publishing Wales (Cyhoeddi Cymru) directs inquiries to the Books Council, but the council do not hold information on the total – only on those titles which receive grant funding or other support.

Looking at ‘new’ titles on the Gwales website (excluding those for children), forty-nine books from publishers based in Wales were listed for the period between 10 October and 10 December 2021 – of which twenty-two were in Welsh. There were 104 ‘forthcoming’ titles (again excluding children’s books) from the same publishers, due to come out between 16 December 2021 and 15 November 2022 – nineteen of these in Welsh. No doubt there will be more to come in both languages as the year progresses. On this basis, up to twenty-five new books are being published every month – seventy-five for every issue of Planet.

The challenge for the guest editor is to select from this large number of potential titles. In any one issue – or any one year – Planet can review only a small proportion of the books published in Wales or of particular interest to Welsh ‘internationalists’.

Inevitably, the guest editor’s choices will – to a greater or lesser extent – reflect his or her interests, so it’s a good idea that the editor-in-chief requires the baton to be passed on every twelve months.

It has been a pleasure to commission the reviews for this issue. Firstly, from the interaction with writers who seemed the ideal candidates and who so readily agreed to take on the job; and secondly, from reading their interesting, thoughtful, and well-crafted contributions.