The people of Britain are set to become a little better versed in the works of some of modern poetry’s greatest names after a poetry anthology made it on to the list of titles to be given away in their thousands as part of World Book Night next spring.
Featuring well-known modern poetry including TS Eliot’s Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock and Philip Larkin’s An Arundel Tomb, as well as lesser-known poems by the late Scots Makar Edwin Morgan, Polish Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska and Australia’s Les Murray, Essential Poems from the Staying Alive Trilogy is the first poetry anthology to be part of the nationwide giveaway since it launched in 2011. Financial support from the Jerwood Foundation and Forward Arts mean that 12,500 copies of the title from tiny poetry press Bloodaxe will be given away on 23 April next year, alongside equal quantities of work by authors including Roddy Doyle, David Almond, Rachel Joyce, Lynda La Plante and Elif Shafak.
“There’s never been something on the scale of this before. Poetry giveaways tend to be of one poem, but there are over 100 here. And these are poems which are proven to be popular. We’re saying there’s probably something here which will help you if you’re sad, or which will be perfect if you’re cheerful. And you can share them, pass them on. Prose is fine, I like prose – but most people are busy, and this is a quick poetry fix,” said Susannah Herbert, director of the Forward Arts Foundation. “We would like to be able to give away a poetry anthology every year, if this works.”
Neil Astley, the anthology’s editor, said it was “wonderful to have the Essential Poems compilation chosen as the first poetry anthology to be given away free on World Book Night”.
“Many of the poems are what I call talismanic: the kind that people keep in their wallets, put on fridges and noticeboards, copy to friends and read on special occasions. And you just need to read one of these poems to get drawn into the spell of poetry,” said Astley. “If any poems are going to capture the wider public imagination, those in Essential Poems offer the best hope because they relate to all our lives. Like World Book Night itself, the book is a bridge to wider reading – in this case poetry. And don’t we all need more poetry in our lives?”
In total, volunteers will hand out 250,000 copies of 20 free books on 23 April next year, ranging from mysteries (Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by MC Beaton) to fantasy (Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb), and from children’s books (My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher) to memoir (Street Cat Bob by James Bowen). The titles were selected by a panel of books experts after publishers submitted titles, with organisers hoping that the diverse list will “get the nation reading”. Volunteers can sign up to be part of World Book Night at its website from Tuesday. The event is run by national charity The Reading Agency.
Almond, whose children’s classic Skellig will be part of the giveaway, described it as a “great, optimistic, liberating, democratic project”, a “wonderful way to celebrate one of humankind’s greatest creations”, and a “truly creative way to encourage people to read one book, then another, then another, to encourage people to become lifelong readers”.
Shafak, whose novel Honour is also included, praised the concept of World Book Night, saying that “there are many people who talk about the need to promote literacy and the love of books, but very few agencies that genuinely, generously and effectively work to this end”.
“I was a lonely, unhappy child when I came across a hidden gate in the dullness of daily life,” said Shafak. “Behind that gate was the wonderful universe of Storyland. I stayed there. I grew up there. Books saved me from sameness, anger, insanity and self-destruction. Books taught me about love and so much more, and I loved them back with all my heart.”
This year, as well as handing out the free titles produced for the occasion by publishers, World Book Night is also encouraging readers to give away books of their own on 23 April to “extend the reach” of the event.
The 20 titles for 2015 are:
1. After the Fall by Charity Norman (Allen and Unwin)
2. Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton (Constable, Little, Brown)
3. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb (HarperCollins)
4. Chickenfeed by Minette Walters (Quick Read) (Pan Macmillan)
5. Custard Tarts and Broken Hearts by Mary Gibson (Head of Zeus)
6. Dead Man Talking by Roddy Doyle (Quick Read) (Vintage, Penguin Random House)
7. Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden (Pan Macmillan)
8. Essential Poems from the Staying Alive Trilogy, Neil Astley (ed.) (Bloodaxe)
9. Honour by Elif Shafak (Penguin General, Penguin Random House)
10. My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher (Orion / Hachette Children’s)
11. Prime Suspect by Lynda La Plante (Simon & Schuster)
12. Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House)
13. Skellig by David Almond (Hachette Children’s)
14. Spring Tide by Cilla and Rolf Börjlind (Hesperus)
15. Street Cat Bob by James Bowen (Quick Read) (Hodder)
16. The Martian by Andy Weir (Ebury, Penguin Random House)
17. The Moaning of Life by Karl Pilkington (Canongate)
18. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Transworld, Penguin Random House)
19. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Two Roads, John Murray)
20. When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman (Headline)
