Interested in four free books? Well then you’re in luck, because Nottingham’s City of Literature are giving away just that as part of their Big City Reads campaign. And with stories ranging from loneliness to police injustice, and styles varying from prose to graphic novel, there’s something for every kind of reader. Set to take place this summer, our Literature Editor catches up with Matt Turpin and Eleanor Flowerday from City of Literature to find out more…
Free books. Isn’t that every reader's dream? Well, here in Nottingham, it’s about to become a reality with City of Literature’s Big City Reads campaign - the project set to give away four free titles to anyone interested.
Chosen by a selection of City of Literature’s Young Ambassadors, the books include Lize Meddings’ The Sad Ghost Club, Joya Goffney’s Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry, Ibi Zoboi’s Punching the Air and Darren Simpson’s Furthermoor, all of which will be available to find around Nottingham this summer.
Happening as a kind of literary treasure hunt, City of Literature will be leaving clues on their social media to the books’ whereabouts, which are set to be scattered across schools, libraries and coffee shops. “It won’t be crazy riddles or anything,” Matt Turpin tells me, “more like a playful set of directions that we will drop on our social media.”
Hoping to create a community feel, Matt comments that “hopefully we can also use social media to foster conversation between readers, especially since they’ll be reading the same books.” Colleague Eleanor Flowerday adds in agreement, “We’d love people to send in reviews to be published on our website, or doodles like in Sad Ghost Club. We can’t wait to see how people interact with the books.”
We’re really trying to push the idea that reading can be a kind of self-care
United by the theme of ‘mood boosting books’, Eleanor and Matt explain that all the titles deal with mental wellbeing in one way or another. But also, “We’re really trying to push the idea that reading can be a kind of self-care and a way to look after your wellbeing,” Eleanor explains. “It’s something that’s especially important after a difficult few years with the pandemic.”
Musing further on the impact of COVID, Matt adds that “I think in the pandemic we all had deeply virtual lives and, in the same way vinyl made a comeback, books give you that wonderful off-screen moment. Whether reading, crafting or anything like that, people are interested in the magic of being tactile. I have books at home where the fondness isn’t just because of what’s in them, it’s the tattered sleeve, it’s the annotations, it’s all the markers of your relationship with the book.”
In another attempt to nurture new relationships among young people, Big City Reads will be hosting a series of meet-up events in the form of writer talks, during which participants can meet the authors themselves. Previously successful, Matt tells me that “in 2019 one of the books we gave out for free was (now Netflix sensation) Heartstopper and we managed to get Alice Oseman to the Council House. The buzz in the room was incredible and it was like we’d created this amazing book club for the people of Nottingham, which was really special.”
All in all, this project which aims to get young people excited about reading comes at a perfect time - with the popularity of online reading cultures like booktok and bookstagram on the rise. An exciting feat to get Nottingham’s young readers connected on a community level, Big City Reads is ideal for our UNESCO City of Literature.
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