World Book Night 2013
“The more I read the more I fought against the assumption that literature is for the minority
– of a particular education or class. Books were my birthright too."
Jeanette Winterson, World Book Night 2013 author
WORLD BOOK NIGHT PROVES THAT BOOKS STILL MATTER IN 2013
Olympic-style volunteering and mass public participation, a host of big name authors, libraries, prisons, hospitals and homeless shelters come together to remind Britain that books still really matter
Against a backdrop of library closures, a challenging publishing environment, and statistics which show that over half of adults of working age have literacy levels below the level of a good GCSE and 16% are below that of an 11 year old, 20,000 passionate booklovers, 2,176 libraries, a host of well-known authors, numerous prisons, homeless shelters and care homes come together to give, share and receive books in a spirit of generosity, passion and mass participation for the 3rd annual World Book Night.
Tonight, 20,000 volunteers will give away 20 specially printed World Book Night editions of one of 20 titles to people who don’t regularly read, or don’t have access to books. Over 23,000 people applied to be givers in a record-breaking year for the country’s largest annual book giveaway.
Just as thousands of people gave up their time last summer to be a part of the London 2012 Olympic Games, World Book Night givers applied in their droves - 54% of whom had never applied before, the eldest of whom is 93 and the youngest aged 10 - to make a difference to someone’s life by offering them the gift of a book.
Libraries have again proved to be the main amplifier for World Book Night, with partners The Reading Agency co-ordinating outreach and World Book Night events in the furthest corners of the country from the Outer Hebrides to the Isle of Wight. For the first time, World Book Night will be staging a Flagship event outside of London, in the brand new Liverpool Central Library - which opens its doors this summer - bringing internationally renowned authors to the North in the spirit of inclusivity and accessibility.
Sandeep Mahal from The Reading Agency says:
The locations for the giving are as diverse as Trade Union Learning Centres, homeless shelters, lorry depots and nature reserves to hospitals, support groups and Britain’s beaches. This year, the highest concentration of givers come from Tyne & Wear [292], Edinburgh [194] and Birmingham [228] – some of the most deprived areas of the UK- showing that people who are passionate about books come from all walks of life, and all social situations.
Naomi Clarke, 2013 giver of ‘Me Before You’ from Liverpool says: “I’m taking them to a shelter for women who have fled domestic abuse. Many of the women have left their homes with nothing, so little gestures mean a lot.”
World Book Night is committed to introducing reading to those in hardest to reach communities. A first for this year, World Book Night has introduced an application strand for charitable giving enabling more than 2,500 organisations to apply for books on behalf of the hardest to reach sections of society, including 90% of the prison network. 100,000 of the 500,000 books allocated have been ring-fenced for charitable and institutional giving and will be distributed in a host of venues including hospitals, shelters, care homes, community centres and prisons.
Julia Kingsford, CEO of World Book Night says:
World Book Night has been working with Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, at their East London centre, operating a weekly book club with their members. The response has been overwhelmingly positive with many members returning week after week. Sharing World Book Night’s passion for reading and inclusivity, the Royal National Institute for Blind people [RNIB] have also run a competition for its members to apply to be givers of audio books on World Book Night.
WHAT’S ON TONIGHT
Tonight, on World Book Night 2013, Liverpool’s flagship event will feature bestselling authors Frank Cottrell Boyce, Jasper Fforde, Philippa Gregory, Jackie Kay, Patrick Ness and Jeanette Winterson, giving theatre-style readings and a series of free, themed literary sessions at St George’s Hall and the brand new Liverpool Central Library, in association with Liverpool City Council and the BBC. The event features an impromptu Speakers’ Corner, a Book Exchange, Poetry Waiters, a Literary-themed Café and much more.
The second major event will be held at London’s Southbank Centre where World Book Night host Hardeep Singh Kohli will present a glorious night of readings by authors, poets and performers including Sebastian Barry, Tracy Chevalier, Charles Dance, Lucy Fleming, Sarah Dunant, Victoria Hislop, Andrew Motion, Jojo Moyes, Alice Oswald, Elif Shafak, Lemn Sissay, Rupert Thomson, Rose Tremain, Mark Haddon, David Nicholls and debut author of the moment - Graeme Simsion.
And at Edinburgh Central Library, guests will be treated to thrilling thoughts on writing with No.1 Ladies Detective Agency author Alexander McCall Smith, and readings by BAFTA-nominated novelist and playwright Lesley Glaister and Australian-born novelist Meaghan Delahunt, in conversation with Peggy Hughes (City of Literature).
Major events in association with World Book Night partners The Reading Agency include: Sophie Hannah in Cambridge, Melvin Burgess in Bristol, as part of the city’s Britain Writing: Bristol Writing programme; Blake Morrison at a newly refurbished Lewisham Library; an evening of exclusive talks, book giveaways and live music for BookAid featuring Beverley Naidoo, James Mayhew, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst and comedian Natalie Haynes at Canada Water Library Southwark; an Evening of Crime with S J Bolton in Peterborough; Ann Cleeves’ Murder Mystery Evening in Maidstone; Treasure Island themed fun in Gloucestershire; a World Book Night ‘20 books’ inspired pop-up film festival in Tameside; and in the Outer Hebrides books will be transported by Mail Bus, Aeroplane and Ferry to the furthest reaches of the islands, thanks to the dedicated efforts of staff at Lionacleit Library. Over 100 satellite events will be taking place at libraries countrywide.
For more information on nationwide events, go to www.worldbooknight.org
QUOTES FROM WORLD BOOK NIGHT 2013 AUTHORS:
Jackie Kay, performing in Liverpool, comments: “World Book night strips everything away to the bare essential: the good hearted feeling of a book in your hand, a companion by your side, the best of friends on your road through life.”
Rose Tremain, taking part in London, says: “Lev, the protagonist of THE ROAD HOME, (my novel chosen to join the list of World Book Night titles), has read very few books in his arduous life as a sawmill worker in Eastern Europe. When he comes to England, he’s given a copy of Hamlet by his friend Lydia, whose pedagogical instincts dictate that she work to ‘improve’ his mind. Hamlet is of course way too difficult for a man who has difficulty distinguishing ‘to be or not to be’ from ‘B & B’, but he struggles on with it and eventually finds some affinity with the anguished prince of Denmark. The reading plays a part in opening up and transforming Lev’s life. And this we know from voices around the world: books can transform lives. So let’s hope World Book Night will act as a kind of benign Ponzi scheme for the mighty word.”
Alexander McCall Smith, appearing in Edinburgh, says: “In a world that sometimes seems over-burdened with conflict, World Book Night stands out as a precious beacon. It has two messages: one is that reading is sheer joy and the other is that the act of giving is intrinsically good. I hope this tradition goes on as long as books are made and read.”