🔥 Read this must-read post from Culture | The Guardian 📖
📂 Category: Books,Culture,Hay festival
💡 Main takeaway:
Hay Festival chairman Stephen Fry is backing the organisation’s new campaign to collect recommendations for the most interesting books to attract new readers, in a bid to combat low literacy rates in the UK.
The Pleasure List campaign, run in partnership with the government’s National Year of Reading 2026, will share the “most ignorable” reads in the hope of helping to reverse the downward trend of adults reading for pleasure.
The National Year of Reading is “great news for book lovers, but the statistics show we are a dying breed,” Fry said. “The number of people reading for pleasure in Britain is constantly decreasing, and we want to change that.”
“The Hay Festival puts together a reading list that could tempt even the most reluctant reader to get started,” says Fry. “And we want your recommendations. What’s a book you quickly read in one sitting? What’s a book that never fails to cheer you up? What’s the first book you remember falling in love with?”
Readers can submit their recommendations for the fun list through the recall form. Each contribution enters readers into a drawing to win a collection of books in a public space of their choice.
“More and more people feel like books aren’t for them, or they don’t know where to start,” said Julie Finch, executive director of the Hay Festival. The Pleasure List will “provide a delightful starting point to help people on their reading journeys”.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson declared 2026 the National Year of Reading in July. The campaign seeks to address the sharp decline in reading among children and adults. In November, the Education Committee launched an investigation into the decline in reading for pleasure.
“This can’t just be a government mission. It has to be a national mission. So, it’s time for us all to play our part, put down our phones and pick up a book,” Phillipson said when announcing the Year of Reading.
The final collection of books will be unveiled at Hay Festival 2026, which will be held from May 21 to 31. A selection of Earlybird events have been released, with the full program scheduled to be published in March. Authors scheduled to attend include Bernardine Evaristo, Leah Yippie, Samira Ahmed, and David Olusoga.
⚡ Share your opinion below!
#️⃣ #Stephen #Fry #launches #campaign #promote #reading #pleasure #books
