Summertime, and the reading is easy. Or at least, it's supposed to be. Holidays were made for sinking blissfully into a pile of books: for long, hot afternoons swinging in hammocks or basting on the sand, gleefully inhaling trashy beach reads or the Booker prize longlist. Read more
Half of UK adults don't regularly read and almost one in four (24%) young people aged 16 to 24 say they've never been readers according to research released by The Reading Agency.
A new survey commissioned by the Publishers Association (PA) has shown that children's reading for pleasure remains a priority for adults across the country, despite a decline in reading.
Three famous readers hold immense influence over the publishing industry. Their recommendations can make or break a book-but how do they make their selections, and is their influence waning? Insiders take Esquire behind the scenes.
Children in the UK and Ireland are reading fewer books than they did last year, according to a new report, as post-Covid absences from school and a lack of dedicated reading time contribute to lower reading abilities.
‘One person writing in a quiet room, trying to connect with another person, reading in another quiet-or maybe not so quiet-room. Stories can entertain, sometimes teach or argue a point. But for me the essential thing is that they communicate feelings. That they appeal to what we share as human beings across our borders and divides.
A report has found that more than half of children's books published in the last decade with a minoritised ethnic main character were by white authors and illustrators.
The book industry has launched an open letter calling on the government to create a plan to boost reading for pleasure for children across the UK. The letter invited the Prime Minister "to make a cross-government commitment to prioritise the role of reading for pleasure for children", investing in the development of children and the future of the country.
Author Katherine Rundell and Claire Wilson, president of the Association of Authors' AgentsThe association of UK agents. Their website (http://www.agentsassoc.co.uk/index.html) gives a Directory of Members and a code of practice, but no information about the agencies other than their names. The association refers visitors to the UK agent listings from The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook on the WritersServices site. (AAA), have signed the open letter launched by the book industry, calling on the Prime Minister to address the decline in reading for pleasure among children.
'You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search.'