GUEST POST: The Fight Against The Decline Of Book Reading

Tara Vickers Photo — A reading flashmob in Nottingham, July 2014. Photo: Tara Vickers, 2014

I have the great pleasure introducing today’s guest writer James Walker. He is a literary journalist and the editor of the literary graphic novel Dawn of the Unread. Here he writes about the fight against the decline of book reading.

The Fight Against The Decline Of Book Reading by James Walker

On the 12 July 2014 I and a few friends decided to organise a reading flashmob in Old Market Square, Nottingham. 400 odd people turned up armed with books and we joined together in a very silent protest. Our aim was to make reading a visible act, and to show our appreciation to the writers, publishers and bookshops who have brought us joy over the years.

Physical books are slowly starting to disappear from the high streets and it’s not just because of the Kindle. In February, independent bookshops dropped to below 1,000 for the first time. This is largely due to high rents as well as a drop in demand. Bookshops pay the same rates as other businesses yet it is simplistic to categorise them as ‘retail’. Firstly, they are never going to be as profitable as say a clothes shop and secondly, they have an educational function. If councils don’t change their attitude our town centres are going to be nothing but Poundstretchers, Tescos and American coffee shops.

Libraries, when they’re not being closed down altogether, are seeing opening times and staffing numbers reduced due to cuts. The old argument that other services (such as hospitals) are more important is simplistic and divisive. The UK was recently positioned 22 out of 24 industrialised nations for illiteracy. This is particularly worrying given that there is proven evidence that those who don’t read are less likely to vote, become home owners and lack general confidence. Cuts also mean that less books are stocked which in turn impacts on the livelihood of writers who are already pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.

These are just some of the issues that motivated the people in the picture to sit down alone together with their favourite books. Reading is also something that is able to unite every type of person, cutting across cultures, gender, ethnicity and age. Yet despite its ability to unite all communities and its role in developing us intellectually and emotionally, it is something which local government seems to treat with contempt. Now we’ve all sat down together quietly, perhaps it’s time we all started to shout for what we believe in…

James Walker is the editor of literary graphic novel Dawn of the Unread. The flashmob was organised as part of their campaign to raise the importance of reading. Their next public event is a game of zombie mastermind as part of the Nottingham Festival of Words (19 October, 3pm, Old Market Square, Nottingham) which will see four dead writers come back to answer questions about their literary lives www.dawnoftheunread.com

Bits of life

“Whenever I feel the need to exercise, I lie down until it goes away.” ― Paul Terry

This is evidently not true of this lovely little boy above.

Nothing New and Happiness

The Nothing New project made me think a lot about the relationship between happiness and possessions. There was a moment in that project when I thought to myself: should I start hating all material possessions now, despise the material world, should I reject my belongings altogether? Then I examined it deeper and I decided that if I did that, it would be irrational and totally against what I felt too. Because I haven’t been buying anything new, I have regularly engaged with what I own and this regular encounter with my belongings brought about my strong appreciation of what we have. The other day I was sorting through my son’s toys and books and I noticed that we actually play with everything that he’s got and we’ve been reading most of the books. His and my clothes are also well-worn now. A large number of clothes that my son has are hand-me-downs from my sister’s friend. We received a big bag of those in exchange for my photographic skills. Every time when I dress my son in one of those items I think of that lovely family and the kids that I’ve photographed. I feel very connected to them.

Similar feelings appear when I use or look at other things, little tokens of familial love and friendship: 12 colouring pencils that lie on my desk remind me of a very kind Italian girl that I’ve just recently befriended and who gave me those pencils after I explored with her different ways of becoming more organised; a Happy Easter 2014 cup with dotted eggs carefully painted on it make me think every day of my husband’s lovely little nephew and a necklace that I’ve been wearing almost every day draws my thoughts to my godfather who just by being himself has for years been an amazing source of strength and inspiration for me. These and other well-used items represent and remind me of people who are part of my life, even though I do not see them often. The difference between these objects and those that are still waiting for us in shops is that they have been filled with people’s faces and emotions. They have come with a cordial soul that those items at shops simply do not possess yet.

The Nothing New Project was initiated by Inked in Colour. Pop over to the blog. There is plenty to see there and I am sure that you will be inspired too.

Love at home and of home

Last week was very busy for our little family of three. Each of us had something special booked in our calendars. My little toddler had a sea event at his nursery to which we were invited. We were making fish, sea stars and other marine creatures out of old CDs, scraps of paper and glitter. It was really nice to get lost in an imaginary world and create part of it too.

On Saturday I had a chance to attend a one day course on portrait photography. I was learning how to create a small studio out of nothing and how to achieve different effects in portrait photography. While not all that I’ve learnt will be applied immediately, some might come in useful later on. One of the tasks that we were asked to do on the course was to go to people on the street and ask them if they would mind if we took photographs of them. I felt terribly awkward at first but then tackled the task. I made eight attempts, approached eight people and to my utter surprise, each and every one agreed! The only thing that I had to do was to ask.

I felt quite upbeat by this event but my enthusiasm for life somewhat dropped when on my way home I realised that there is a kitchen to clean, bags with food shopping to unpack, dinner to cook, piles of clothes to wash. The ends of my smile dropped. I sighed deeply before I entered the house… I walked in and… everything was done. It wasn’t a dream. It was my husband. This wonderful man who knows exactly what I need and when, who knows how to lift me up and how to keep me happy. His act of kindness energized me more than the course (so much so that I quickly washed the floors, uncluttered our desk and organised our son’s spaces). It was unbelievably enlivening and set a great tone to our weekend.

What these experiences taught me was that kindness at home tastes even sweeter than the kindness of strangers and that perhaps when it comes to caring for the house it’s great to break the chore routine every so often (either by doing it for someone or changing our focus to a different task). Variety is one of the key variables in optimal nutrition, maybe the same is true of well-nurtured and committed house-keepers.