Below and Below Right
Historian Victoria Seymour tells the
story of her day....
One million books, including works by Alan
Bennett and John le Carre, were given away in the UK and Ireland to mark
last Saturday evening’s inaugural World Book Night. Potential
distributors were invited to pick their favourite from 25 titles and
were then given 48 copies of their choice to pass on to a friend with
their recommendation. There was huge public support for the idea but
only 20,000 people were successful in getting a batch of books
They were distributed at venues including homeless centres, pubs and
hospitals in a bid to boost reading.
To mark World Book Night in her own way, local
modern social history writer, Victoria Seymour, met patrons in the
foyer and bar of The Stables Theatre on Saturday evening, to hand
out free copies of her book, “Austerity Diary from Lavender Cottage ~
Hastings 1947”. Victoria said, ‘I had applied to get the 48 books
but as I has not been successful I decided to go it alone.
It was a pleasant experience to give people a
surprise gift. On the way home I dropped in to my local convenience
store and a betting shop, to distribute more copies. |
Left Kent-based publisher Anna
Foster was at Gatwick airport, giving away copies of 'Life of Pi' to
travelers heading out all over the world.
Anna says... I chose Gatwick Airport as
my books would start their journey by going to many different countries,
making the event truly global. The books went in 20 minutes and are now
in Sweden, Egypt, Canada, the US, France, Croatia, Italy, Cuba, Iceland,
Spain and Portugal among others. People were thrilled to receive the
books and for me, World Book Night, was an amazing experience. I can't
wait till next year.
Below Hastings author Kate O'Hearn
visited a school in the town of Battle to talk to young readers and
writers.
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