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Comedian and author Russell Brand will deliver "a manifesto on reading" at the third annual The Reading Agency Lecture this November.
The lecture was initiated by the charity in 2012 to provide a platform for leading writers and thinkers to share original, challenging ideas about the future of reading in the UK.
Brand’s manifesto is said to be in part personal, sharing his own experience of books and reading while growing up, and in part as a public figure, sharing his views on the status of reading and storytelling in our national culture and why reading is important for young people, especially boys, in the UK today.
The lecture will be delivered in Logan Hall at the Institute of Education on Tuesday 25th November and for the first time will be open to members of the public.
Brand said: “Writing is the most intimate medium. Right there in the brain, in the swamp of fear and desire. I like splashing about in there, stirring up sediment, doing the breaststroke. In this lecture I will try and drag this metaphor out for an hour.”
Sue Wilkinson, c.e.o. of The Reading Agency said: “We are delighted Russell Brand has agreed to deliver the third annual Reading Agency Lecture, a platform we designed to stimulate debate and discussion about the transformative power of reading in public and in private life.”
The inaugural lecture was given by Jeanette Winterson on The Reading Agency’s tenth birthday in 2012 and last year Neil Gaiman took to the stage to address the future of reading and libraries in a digital age.
Invited guests at the event will include leaders from government, libraries, publishing, education, the creative industries and culture, and many authors who are support libraries and The Reading Agency’s work.
The lecture is a fundraising event, proceeds from which support the charities’ core mission to get and keep the nation reading.
Brand's latest book, Revolution, set to reveal his views on ecology, rioting, and "the total mistrust of politicians", will be published by Cornerstone later this month. He is also publishing a series of children's books with Canongate.