Manga, comic strip, classic… Books in all their forms are in the spotlight. This Tuesday, March 12, the National Book Center (CNL), in collaboration with the Ministry of National Education and Youth, invites the French to a quarter of an hour of national reading. “Whether we are or readers, (…) the quarter-hour reading aims to put reading back at the heart of our daily lives, by making us want to read 15 minutes a day… or more! ”, we read in its press release.
Implemented in 2019 in all schools by National Education, this operation mobilizes businesses, associations and EPHADs alike, in order to raise awareness among organizations, public and private, of the importance of reading. And this, while the youngest read less and less. “Reading is a matter of public health. In the same way that advertising campaigns against tobacco, against obesity have been carried out… We should have a massive campaign which shows how much the screen kills the psyche of our children”, had notably alerted Régine Hatchondo, president of the National Book Center, with Le Figaro.
For this third edition of the quarter-hour of books, the CNL called on five personalities, responsible for promoting the event by sharing their taste for books and reading: the author Mokhtar Amoudi crowned with the Goncourt Prize for Prisoners for his first novel Ideal Conditions, (Gallimard), the children’s author Anne-Laure Bondoux, the child psychiatrist Marcel Rufo, the singer Pomme and the poet Arthur Teboul, singer of the group Feu! Chatterton.
“The CNL contacted my publisher, and it happened naturally. I’m happy to participate. » Himself a poet, author of Le Déversoir: Poèmes minute, (Seghers), Arthur Teboul returns on March 28 with The Address (Seghers). “A writer is first and foremost a reader. This is his breeding ground. » So what is he reading? “I started Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart, winner of the Booker Prize 2020. I fell into it, it’s excellent! The novel focuses on a working-class family after the closure of the mines in Scotland. It tells about social poverty during the Thatcher era. But not only that… I’m fascinated. » He adds: “I also read Splendors and Misfortunes of Courtesans. Which language ! How smart! Balzac combines situational literature as well as the power of language and wit. Everything is there. There are poetic, witty outbursts and extremely well-written characters… I love it! »
New this year, the national quarter-hour reading acquires a new graphic charter and a logo. Companies, associations and establishments, organizers of the event, can win books and Read vouchers via a competition. On to your books!