English PEN's Readers & Writers Programme
What does the programme do?
Readers & Writers brings English PEN's most valuable resource - writers - into direct contact with readers of all ages and backgrounds, with lasting benefits to both. The programme aims to widen access to literary culture by arranging writer visits to children and adults in disadvantaged communities.
In brief, the programme:
- Promotes literacy and literature in under-served communities
- Funds author visits & donates books to sites without the resources or means to do so independently
- Motivates struggling or reluctant readers with the excitement of a unique, memorable event
- Challenges pre-conceptions of who can be a writer and what reading is all about
- Inspires readers young and old through interaction with a 'real writer'
- Opens minds through stories and poems that are accessible and themes that are relevant and meaningful
- Encourages the use of literature as a source of pleasure and as a tool for personal growth
- Supports teachers, education officers and literacy workers in inspiring their students
- Demystifies the worlds of literature and publishing
To read about the aims of the Readers and Writers Programme, please click here .
To find out more about how the programme works, please click here.