Big Read for whole town (From Gazette Series)

Big Read for whole town

AN ambitious experiment to involved the whole of Wotton-under-Edge and district in the reading of the same novel is launched today, Friday.

The idea behind Wotton and District's Big Read is to find novels that people in the town enjoy reading than any other and to get others in the district to read them.

The brainchild of Wotton's In the Margins book group, run in conjunction with Under the Edge Arts and with the support of the Gazette, The Big Read starts today by asking members of the public to nominate their favourite novel.

Fill in the form printed here and put it in one of the nomination boxes that can be found in prominent places in town (The Cotswold Book Room, Novel Hovel, One Stop Shop and Wotton Library), or votes can be e-mailed to wottonsbigread@hotmail.co.uk

Choices should be fiction you have enjoyed and hope other people will too, from high-brow literature to more relaxing airport fiction, romances, thrillers, crime novels, anything that takes your fancy.

To get the nominations going, In the Margins has asked some local people for their suggestions. Poet UA Fanthorpe immediately chose Wuthering Heights.

"I discovered this book when I was twelve and couldn't believe there was anything so brilliant - now I am 76 but I still haven't read a better," she said.

Right up to the present and in complete contrast, Ted Brandt, student, nominated William Gibson's cyber-punk novel Neuromancer. "It's a fast-paced blend of prophecy and reality, hitting the right emotional buttons", he said.

After a two-week period for nominations, the chosen books will become Wotton's Big Read for the next four months, as everyone settles down to read them.

In the Margins member Liz Frost said: "A whole area reading the same book could give every high-street encounter a completely different flavour and if you like a more structured discussion In the Margins will host a discussion each month, to which everybody will be very welcome."

February to May will each have a Wotton's Big Read Book of the Month - look out for information in the Gazette and in town. And then Under The Edge Arts will host a Big Read Book Bonanza Night, when Wotton's overall favourite book choice will be made.

To contribute to this imaginative project, go out today and make a nomination.