The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) has joined this year's World Book & Copyright Day celebration in a big way. All over the world antiquarian booksellers will be holding pop-up book fairs to offer "a stunning selection of rare books, prints, manuscripts and ephemera to promote the trade of old and rare books and to support the UNESCO literacy projects in Africa." These pop-up book fairs will surely provide visitors with a chance to peruse jaw-dropping printed material while offering the opportunity to enrich the lives of the kids of South Sudan by providing much needed literacy assistance. From the...
Reading in the Mobile Era
A student in Kenya with her library of e-books. photo by @NdilaiG Another highlight from this years World Book & Copyright Day was the release of Reading in the Mobile Era by UNESCO. Based on interviews and 4,000 completed surveys in seven developing countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda and Zimbabwe) this landmark report "paints the most detailed picture to date of who reads books and stories on mobile devices and why." We learn that celluar networks reach over 95% of the worlds population and more people have access to cell phones than toilets. Then there is this tragic fact that most people in Sub-Shararan...
Seattle wants, and deserves, to be a UNESCO City of Literature
Right on the heels of hosting the largest AWP conference to date, the city of Seattle is preparing to launch a bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature. Spearheaded by writer Ryan Boudinot, the efforts already have the unanimous blessing of the Seattle City Council and Mayor Ed Murray. The designation would fall under the UNESCO Creative Cities network which is a group of 41 cities worldwide with specialties in film, literature, design, music, gastronomy, media arts and crafts and folk art. Currently 7 of the 41 cities have been designated as cities of literature - Edinburgh; Melbourne, Australia; Norwich; Dublin; Reykjavik, Iceland;...