Spreading the word: Encouraging literature, as well as literacy

Trafalgar Square was packed on Friday as crowds celebrated World Book Night 2011. The next day one million books were given away for free. But this big budget promotion of literature is a rare event. Government policy focuses on literacy (helping people read) not literature (the writing). Have they got the balance right?

Sharing a million books

On Saturday, one million books will be given away by an army of passionate readers to members of the public across the UK and Ireland. The initiative comes from the private sector, led by the MD of the publishers Canongate, with the support of the Publishers Association, the Booksellers Association, the Independent Publishers Guild, the Reading Agency with libraries, World Book Day, the BBC and RTE. This is quite a list.

London also has an impressive history as a literary city, having been home to writers as diverse as Shakespeare and Chaucer, and now Ian McEwan and Martin Amis (occasionally). By my own calculation, 7 of the last 10 Booker Prize winners lived or were strongly connected to the city.

But where are the next classic novels going to come from? According to those in the trade, the average advance for a first-time novelist has dropped from around £40,000 in 2000, to £10,000 now. The implication is that writers will not be able to spend as long developing their prose as in the past - they won’t be able to afford it.

The government spends comparatively little developing the sector, despite the hard work of organisations like Free Word in Farringdon (pictured). They describe themselves as “a place where media meets literature which brings people together to work collaboratively.” Like all arts organisations at the moment, their funding is looking uncertain. The literature sector clearly needs some leadership and investment if it is going to continue to develop the talent it has historically.

Still, there is a solid base to build from. Literacy - improving reading skills - is likely to be one of the largest bills the government has, through schools, libraries, adult learning etc. It has never had a stronger presence. Bookstart, for instance, is a £13 million scheme to give books to young children.

It is tough to make a case for taking funds away from schemes like these, even to support starving writers. But if it’s worth investing in helping people to read, it’s important to have something worth reading.

• Michel Houellebecq - Why are you creative?
• Melez - the train is rolling

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• Creative London