Illiteracy - the intellectual cancer

Dear Friends

Get the nation reading.  A great idea we all support.  However, we need to get the whole nation reading including the one in five who cannot.   Eradicating  illiteracy, which I consider an intellectual cancer, should be our top priority and it is now part of The People’s Book Prize’s constitution.  

At last year’s People’s Book Prize Awards the public voted for YES WE CAN READ written by Libby Coleman and Nick Ainley.   By awarding  it the Special Achievement Prize we recognised the importance of this publication.   

 YES WE CAN READ enables anyone who can read fluently to teach a non-reader aged 8 – 80 within 6 months or less, one-to-one.  Many success stories:  the oldest learner is 74 and the youngest coach is 11.  

Our dream became a reality when TPBP 2010 Non-Fiction First Award Winner, Brett Alegre-Wood, author of bestselling book THE 3 + 1 PLAN handed TPBP a cheque for £5,000  for us to purchase copies of YES WE CAN READ.  

Please sponsor a winner and share your passion for reading and the determination to improve somebody’s quality of life:   £35 can make that happen for one person.   He or she will keep in touch with his/her progress and it will be a rewarding experience to know that you have been able to make a difference.   

Thank you.  

All the best.   Tatiana  

 

The People's Book Prize

Why was it created?

• to give authors a better chance of being read
• to create a unique space where publishers can showcase their author's work
• to give the British public the opportunity to choose Britain's next Bestsellers and discover new talent
• to support libraries and encourage community interaction
• to celebrate reading
• to get people reading: anybody and everybody can be part of the People's Book Prize and take an active role

Our aims  

• To champion new authors and showcase new and unknown works.
• To secure a transparent democratic process, empowering the public to vote with confidence for the nation’s next bestsellers and writers of tomorrow.
• To engage the community and raise the profile of independent publishers, libraries and new writers, forming an alliance with retailers to sell and distribute winners’ books.
• To support literacy within schools and by working with The People’s Book Prize writers to visit schools and conduct community workshops within libraries and bookshops.
• To foster a love of reading and inspire the next generation of Britain’s best untapped writing talent.
• To invest in a writing competition across three age groups.
• In partnership, to host an event to raise awareness about the state of literacy and literature in the UK.
• To eradicate illiteracy. The Special Achievement Award 2011 recognised this and demonstrates how The Prize can make a difference.

In the words of our Founding Patron, Dame Beryl Bainbridge DBE “I look forward to the time when we mention this particular prize as the greatest”.