Pages Ago and Flashback Fiction
Readers from across the North West are invited to enter the Flashback Fiction competition. We want readers to be inspired by history to have a go at writing a short piece of fiction. Local and regional prizes will be awarded at the end of the promotion in December 2010.
Take a look at some examples of entries so far: Examples of Flashback Fiction competition entries
Pages Ago is a promotion of history reading which is running in North West Libraries during 2010. History reaches into all genres of writing and the fact that a huge historical novel, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, won the Man Booker Prize in 2009 is testimony to the fact that historical fiction is now taken more seriously than it used to be.
Why not try some for yourself?
What we have done to tempt you is try to pair up fiction with non-fiction. So if you have really enjoyed a novel set in a certain historic period, you may wish to further your interest by reading some non-fiction on the same subject. Or may be you are one of those readers who says they only ever read true fact? You might be surprised by some of the historical fiction out there which has been meticulously researched, by writers who are passionate about history.
Perhaps you can find some interesting pairings of your own, with the help of library staff, and tell us about them on the Time To Read blog.
This list of historical reading is just a starting point. Libraries have lots of other historical titles available and will be promoting them during 2010. Pages Ago will also include events such as author visits, talks, readers’ days, writing workshops and other special activities to inspire adults and families to read about history. Use the link to your local authority website to find out what is happening near you.
Librarians in the North West have pioneered partnership working to encourage new readers into libraries. Time To Read is a partnership of librarians engaged in reader development activity in public library authorities in the North West Region. All 23 public library authorities in the region currently support Time To Read.