Back in July last year, the government announced that 2026 would be The National Year of Reading.
Reading for pleasure – especially among young people – has dropped to its lowest level since 2005.
The National Year of Reading is a collective response to try to change that. It is designed to reignite reading habits and create a culture where reading is part of everyday life for everyone, at every age.
The campaign will run throughout the whole of 2026, with national moments running alongside local, community activities to encourage reading across the country.
The year officially kicked off on 13th January at the Emirates Stadium in London. The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, unveiled the “Go All In” campaign. The idea is to bring together families, schools, libraries, businesses, charities and cultural organisations to reconnect people of all ages with a love of reading.
One of the first major events took place in February with National Storytelling Week, and many more events are planned. As well as World Book Day in March, there will be creative writing competitions (see below for a local opportunity from Rye Players), parent and baby community sessions around the country, and “in conversation” events with authors. The campaign also hopes to recruit 100,000 new volunteers to join the national effort by spotlighting the vital role volunteers play in supporting literacy projects.
Last year, the government also pledged to invest £10 million ensuring that every primary school in England has a school library by the end of this parliament run. This will make it much easier for children to access books and reading spaces from an early age.
The Go All In campaign encourages people to Go All In by reading about anything they are interested in or passionate about, using the slogan, “If You’re Into It – Read Into It!” Reading can further your understanding and knowledge about any subject that you already love – or even a new subject that you might be curious about. It could be anything… cookery, farming, music, sci-fi, baking, fashion, science, gardening… the list is endless! Reading is simply a way to go deeper into a subject you love, accelerating and enhancing the things you already care about.
You can read anything and anywhere – it doesn’t just have to be books. It could be fiction or non-fiction. You could read on a kindle, or listen to an audiobook, read a newspaper, a comic or graphic novel, a magazine – or a local community newsletter!
More information can be found at https://goallin.org.uk
Don’t forget – there are free books for all at the two Camber Community Bookstops, located at the end of Pelwood Road and on the green in front of the former Pontins site (almost opposite the village shop). This year, Camber Community Group has been able to place some World Book Day vouchers in both the village Book Stops to enable you to access the books if you do not already have a token.
Rye Players Creative Writing Competition
RYE WRITES – TEN IN TEN – CALL FOR ENTRIES
We invite new and established writers aged 16 and over to take part in Rye Writes: Ten in Ten – a brand-new playwriting competition celebrating creative voices from Rye and beyond. The three illustrious judges are Arabella Ansar, Stephen James John and Aisling Teodorescu. All submissions will remain anonymous until judging is complete.
Your challenge:
- Write an original ten-minute play (roughly 10 pages) featuring no more than three characters
- Any theme, any genre — from comedy to tragedy, farce to fantasy.
- Keep it short, simple, and ready to perform live.
Direction, casting and production will be managed by Rye Players and the six winning entries will be performed at the Rye Arts Festival in September.
Send your entry (in Word or PDF) to hello@ryeplayers.com by 30 April 2026. Winners will be announced on 14 May.
Book Review
Have you read a good book lately? Would you recommend it to your friends? If you would like to write a book review for the newsletter, please send it in and we will be happy to print it for you!
HAPPY READING, EVERYONE!
