For the past couple of years, I've been working with the University of Wolverhampton on their Novel Perceptions project. We've gathered lots of data about the nation's reading habits, and are writing up the findings. We're now really keen that the project has impact outside the academic community - so I've been working with the team to plan outreach activities. Our first project - a pilot book club project for prisoners - has just been funded.
Our pilot - a collaboration with the Prison Libraries Group - will run in four Kent prisons later this year. We'll be aiming to create a moment where prisoners and staff read and discuss a novel together. We'll also be exploring ways in which we can get prisoners reading and recommending more of the nation's favourite books, and running writing workshops so they can respond to texts in creative ways.
The project has been funded by Arts Council England. We'll be reporting our findings to them - and if it's successful we'll be hoping to roll it out across prisons more widely. Watch this space.
You can find out more about the project here.