World Book Day Spread the Word
Eleven years ago someone at UNESCO had the idea to celebrate reading and books around the world on the same day. An ambitious plan but one that has done remarkably well. Today, World Book Day is celebrated in over 100 countries around the globe.
World Book Day takes place in the UK and Ireland on 5 March 2009 and features:
- Spread the Word
- Quick Reads
- Children's campaign
Spread the Word
The Spread the Word campaign returns in 2009 with Books to Talk About. These are publishers' 'hidden gems' that haven't been bestsellers but that deserve to be talked about - and are good to be talked about. Launched in 2008, Spread the Word attracted fantastic media coverage. More than 5000 votes were cast on the website with Boy A by Jonathan Trigell chosen as the winning title.
This year's longlist of 50 titles, which includes non-fiction, was launched in October and can be viewed at Spread the Word. Readers are invited to leave comments and vote for the titles they'd like to see on the shortlist. There is the chance to win £100 of book tokens each week.
Voting closes on the 2 January 2009. The shortlist will be announced on the 30 January to coincide with a special supplement published by the Guardian. Voting will re-open again on the 30th and the winning title will be announced on World Book Day 2009.
Follow the links for information about the World Book Day Children's campaign and Quick Reads initiatives in 2009.