Booker prize launches new Quick Read in effort to boost adult reading crisis

An initiative that aims to widen access to Booker prize-winning authors is set to launch this week, as research finds that more than a third of UK adults find it hard to read books through to the end.

The Booker Prize Foundation is launching a short story collection entitled All Around the World, including works by the Booker prize winners Anne Enright, David Szalay and International Booker prize nominee Nadifa Mohamed. The collection was curated by another former winner, Roddy Doyle.

Data from the forthcoming State of the Nation’s Adult Reading report shows that 55% said they read less than they intend to, while 19% of 16- to 24-year-olds said they could not “easily find themselves or their culture represented in books”. The Reading Agency is expected to publish the full report later in the summer.

All Around the World will be distributed as part of the Quick Reads initiative, which is in its 20th year of seeking to improve adult literacy. Readers will be able to pick up the book for £1 from Thursday and the Booker Prize Foundation will donate 12,000 copies to people who face barriers to reading. The book will also be delivered to the foundation’s prison reading programme, Books Unlocked.

The collection will be made available as a free digital and audio download for readers of this week’s Big Issue, and 300 physical copies will be distributed via vendors of the magazine. George Anderson, a Big Issue vendor who works in central London, said: “Reading is almost like mindfulness. It takes you into a different place while keeping you in the here and now.”

The Booker prize-winning writer Roddy Doyle, who was tasked with curating the texts, called the book “an invitation to read”. In an interview with the Big Issue, he said: “Quick Reads is like dipping your toe in the water of literature, with some of the barriers that might put people off removed. A lot of people might feel there is nothing about their world in books. The stories in All Around the World have access points, and I hope they alert readers to the fact that, actually, their life might be in here somewhere.”

Other key barriers to more frequent and prolonged reading included the lack of concentration, time and representation.

Four in 10 respondents to a survey by the foundation who said that they abandoned books before finishing them did so “because they lose interest”. One in five (22%) said they did not have enough time to read, while 21% cited the cost of books as a reason for not buying literature more often.

Karen Napier, chief executive of the Reading Agency, said: “For 20 years, Quick Reads has shown that when books are accessible, relevant and easy to fit into busy lives, more people discover the pleasure and power of reading. The findings from our research show that many adults want to read more, but factors such as limited time, competing demands and confidence can get in the way.