We are delighted to share an article from BRO NEVEZ issue 178. Our guest author for this article is Lois Kuter, who is the driving force behind the ICDBL. The article in question is on a topic central to this website’s mission, English-language resources for those interested in Brittany. Sharp-eyed readers will no doubt notice ATB mentioned in this very article. Thanks, Lois!
This April, an article by Remy Penneg (https://www.nhu.bzh/brittany-news-in-english/) was posted by Agence Bretagne Presse with the title “Brittany news: why Brittany is still invisible in English … and why it’s changing.” The article notes that tourism is a main driver for English language publications: “Most English language content about Brittany tends to look the same. It highlights landscape, food, and traditional festivals.” I believe that these are indeed great reasons to visit Brittany, but certainly there is more to Brittany than that, as Remy’s article emphasizes.
In contrast to Brittany, it is noted that Wales, Scotland and Ireland produce a wealth of information in English on all topics making them internationally visible. The article notes however that things are changing with Breton media outlets building information in English to inform and educate and not just to attract tourists. Two media cited which provid news coverage as well as analysis of events and issues are Agence Bretagne Presse (news.bzh) and NHU Brittany (Ni Hon Unan) at nhu.bzh/nhu-brittany. I highly recommend NHU.bzh/Brittany-in-europe-analysis, a basic article to present Brittany as a unique entity within Europe.
Yes, the perspectives of Bretons themselves on a range of topics – social, economic, political, environmental, as well as cultural and linguistic – are important and welcome to English speakers who lack fluency in French or Breton. And NHU Brittany and Agence Bretagne Presse are well positioned to provide current news. Yet, while it takes some diligent searching, English language news about Brittany that goes well beyond tourism has been available for a number of years.
While not highly visible, Bro Nevez has been an English-language source of information since 1981 with 177 issues as of February 2026. All back issues are available on the U.S. ICDBL website. It has been sent in paper form as well as by e-mail to Americans, Canadians, and dozens of Breton individuals and organizations supporting the Breton language and culture. While the news it includes is not always timely with its quarterly schedule of publication, it covers a wide range of topics and events in Brittany.
Then, there’s Carn, published since 1973 by the Celtic League with 191 issues as of Summer/Autumn 2025. With reports in the Celtic languages as well as English on a range of issues, this has surely served as a valued source of news for English speakers of the Celtic countries as well as the U.S. and Canada. Like Bro Nevez, Carn is not likely to be known to a wide public, but nevertheless has been a source of news for many years.
Of more recent vintage for English speakers living in Brittany was Central Brittany Journal which published 250 issues between 2004 and April 2025. The bulk of this magazine was directed to finding resources – familiar foods, home repairs, tax assistance, churches, gardening, or events organized by the English-speaking community in Brittany. But, the magazine also included some basic information about Breton history and culture.
For those interested in Breton music especially, the website AllThingsBreton.org is highly recommended. It cites as its goal: …”to provide a deep, content-rich, graphically exciting portal for the English-speaking world to learn more about the magnificent culture and music of Brittany.” While the focus is on music (and not in a “folkloric” way), the site provides links to other English language resources such as the U.S. ICDBL and Breizh Amerika. It is indeed content-rich.
And, Breizh Amerika (breizh-amerika.com) should also be recognized as a significant source of information for English speakers. Since 2014 its hundreds of articles have been posted on its blog (in French and English) about a wide range of topics – history, famous people, music, cuisine, economy, environment, etc. – all available to readers. With the goal of forging links between Brittany and America the site reports on the work of this group to foster business as well as musical exchanges.
For those who want information about the Breton language and its use the Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg is a great place to look. The main site has a Breton and French alternative, but a link provided by the Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity (Npld.eu) takes you to a basic presentation by the Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg: https://npld.eu/ofis-publik-ar-brezhoneg-public-office-for-the-breton-language/
Of course, finding all of these resources, including Ni Hon Unan and Agence Bretagne Presse, depends on knowing of their existence in the first place. For most English speakers who have a curiosity beyond touristic ambitions, a Google (or other search engine) website search is probably the first place they would look for a basic introduction to Brittany. This would take you to lots of tourism information but also to a number of other publications. Wikipedia is likely to jump up at the top of any search and this is not the worst place to get a Wikipedia is likely to jump up at the top of any search and this is not the worst place to get a start as an English speaker.
I tried several Google searches just to see what pops up first in site listings. Here’s some of what I found. I did not delve beyond the first list of things that came up with each search and did not look into everything there. But this gives an idea of some of the good and not-so-good links Google provides.
Googling “English language news of Brittany”
Among the first links listed was the article cited above, “Why Brittany is still invisible in English.” Also noted was The Brittany Times, a monthly publication “Connecting English-speaking residents and visitors across Brittany.” Very much like Central Brittany Journal, this includes local news and events, nature and culture, with lots of advertising for services for English speakers living in Brittany. Among the top sites to appear was The Local France which was mostly geared to tourism but included other news stories as well. The Connexion also popped up – “French news in English since 2002.” This covers all of France with lots of context geared to tourists, but also coverage of current events such as the flooding this spring which impacted Brittany.
Googling “News from Brittany”
This led to a mix of sites about women named Brittany (see the note at the end of this article) as well as some of the sites noted above. This search also brought up news.bzh, the English language version of Agence Bretagne Presse.
Googling “Breton News” (as an English speaker might be tempted to do)
This leads to links mostly to articles about Cape Breton Island in Canada as well as an engineering company named “Breton” headquartered in Italy and an individual with a last name of Breton. But also, there was a link to a very short Wikipedia article about the magazine Breton News which was set up in the 1950s by Alan Heusaff (1921-1999) to bring news (especially political) to Breton expatriates in Ireland. It was published in English, French and Breton and was later merged with Carn, the magazine of the Celtic League in which Heusaff was active.
Googling “Introduction to Brittany in English”
Here Wikipedia was prominent in the first list of sites as well as Britannica.com which led to a brief overview of all the Celtic countries. Prominent in the search list also was the NHU article introducing Jean-Pierre Le Mat’s History of Brittany, the Breton Point of View. See Bro Nevez, 138, July 2016, for a review of that book which provides a great introduction
to Breton history. Wendy Mewes has also written a history of Brittany in English, Discovering the History of Brittany and Brittany: A Cultural History, as well as a number of books about Brittany. See a note in Bro Nevez 176, December 2025.
Worth noting also is a link to the EBSCO site, a company supporting research and publication. One will be linked to a short introduction to Brittany which leaves much to be desired. For example, it states “French is the national language of Brittany, although some people still speak Breton and Celtic dialects.” Celtic dialects?? Much of the EBSCO information seemed directed to tourists.
Googling “Introduction to Breton Culture in English”
This also had a Wikipedia link featured as well as tourism sites. Also among the top cited links was World Culture Encyclopedia (everyculture.com). This offered a pretty woeful overview of Brittany with very brief introductions to a number of areas – geography, economy, population, language, folklore … It depicted Bretons as very devout Catholics with festivals and traditions highly influenced by that.
Also in the sites coming up first was studyguides.com which provided a more interesting overview of cultural and linguistic challenges and resilience. There was also a link to a YouTube “History of Brittany in under 5 minutes.” Covering prehistory through 1532 this was not terrible, but a map outline provided at intervals throughout showed only a Brittany of four departments, giving the impression that Loire-Atlantique was never a part of Brittany during the periods of history presented.
Googling “The Breton language”
This brought up a mix of good and not so good sites lacking in depth, sometimes to the point of inaccuracy. Britannica.com was among the first to be found. Itsdescription and history of the presence of the Breton language in Brittany left a bit to be desired. It noted: “a Breton-language school system and bilingual education began to develop at the turn of the century.” Not sure what century they were referring to, but Diwan and the public and Catholic school bilingual programs were developed in the 1970s and early 1980s. The Endangered Language Alliance site was in need of updating and more accuracy when it came to the Breton language.
Also popping up in this search was a YouTube “Saving Breton from Extinction” This featured the Eurovision performance by Ahes as well as some good interviews (in French with English subtitles) with Breton language teachers. The film clearly placed blame on France for the fragile situation of Breton. Also to be found was the Wikipedia site with a good presentation of the history and characteristics of the Breton language with lots of statistics and links to articles and websites for further details. Found in this search was also a link to Gweltaz Hamel (gildas.ucsc.edu) and an interesting 1982 paper he authored, reflecting the state of things in 1982.
In addition there was a link to Breizh Amerika and a blog from August 2023 with a good presentation of the history and current challenges for Breton as well as actions being taken to support it. This included lots of statistics from 2022 (as recent as most can get). As noted earlier, Breizh Amerika has posted on its website a number of excellent articles about Brittany. Last but not least, Minority Rights Group was linked. It provides a good but very brief section on schools and support for Breton, as well as a two-paragraph discussion of politics and Breton nationalism which needs much more context to avoid misinterpretations.
In conclusion
So, English speakers, do not be discouraged in your search for news and information about Brittany. It may take some searching but thanks to NHU and Agence Bretagne Presse the pool of news is growing, and Bretons themselves are providing accurate and interesting information on a number of topics. As you explore the internet, you may find that a website’s
information is too brief to be really useful (or trustworthy). Sometimes information is woefully out of date. It’s a buyer-beware situation in trolling the internet. If you discover a great English-language source of information, be sure to let this Editor know so it can be noted in a future issue of Bro Nevez.
Note on Women named Brittany: This name became very popular in the 1980s when it entered the top 100 baby names. By 1986 it was among the top 10 for girls. Popularity continued through the 1990s but plummeted after that. The name has a variety of different versions: Britney, Brittney, Britnee, Brittani, Brittanie. Perhaps best known of women sporting the name are singer Britney Spears (born 1981) and basketball player Brittney Griner (born 1990).
~ Lois Kuter
