Sam Ruddock: Bibliodiversity

Sam Ruddock is a reader, book blogger, and Programme Manager
at Writers’ Centre Norwich where he produces Summer Reads. 

Bibliodiversity. What a mouthful of a word.

‘…a Maroon / of a word and a word so silent / it is the opposite of song.’ So Kei Miller describes another word in ‘Twelve Notes for a Light Song of Light’, the title poem in his third collection A Light Song of Light. If there is a central focus of that book, it is that poetry should communicate with the directness and universality of a song, and carry a similar emotional resonance.

Kei Miller 

And yet when I first heard this word used last weekend – unwieldy as it is - it had the feel of poetry. It was one of those moments where all of my beliefs about reading fell into place.

Say it with me: Bibliodiversity.

Reading is more than a hobby; it is active participation in the art of literature and should be supported as such. I believe that reading broadly is more important than the specific books we actually read. That by reading across forms and genres we expand our horizons, break down the barriers that constrain our thinking, and avoid the supermarket ‘pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap’ sort of bookselling that increasingly determines how readers discover new books. In its own way, I think bibliodiversity is as important to a healthy literature as biodiversity is to a healthy environment. And I’m fascinated by the idea that a reading revolution centred around bibliodiversity could have as much of an impact on the way we write, publish, sell, buy, read, and talk about books, as Fairtrade has on how we shop.

WCN Marketing Assistant Rowan Whiteside
enjoying A Light Song of Light

Readers love discovery and readers deserve as much support in developing the craft of reading as writers have to develop their writing. Given a little support readers – me included! – regularly surprise ourselves with the sorts of books we enjoy. Tearing down the barriers that make us uncertain about our capacity to engage with a particular book or genre can be a wonderfully enabling process.

A Light Song of Light,
available in paperback
and ebook.

It is these thoughts that led Writers’ Centre Norwich – a literature development organisation interested in both the artistic and social impact of creative reading and writing – to launch Summer Reads. Each year we gather a group of keen readers together to work through a longlist of over 100 titles and select 6 books to feature in a reading campaign throughout the summer. Summer Reads acts as a guide to some of the most exhilarating writing and storytelling from around the world and a focal point around which to create networks of bold, confident, and adventurous readers.

This year the six books we are promoting include A Light Song of Light by Kei Miller as well as works of fiction, non-fiction, short stories, novellas, work in translation, and uncategorisable mash-ups of all the above. It is a veritable feast! Whatever your usual fare, why not head over to summerreads.org.uk and discover something new.

Sam Ruddock is a reader, book blogger, and Programme Manager at Writers’ Centre Norwich where he produces Summer Reads. He is unashamedly idealistic about the power of literature to change people’s lives and by doing so change the world. Over the coming years he aims to lead a revolution in the ways we perceive the art of reading, breaking down barriers and ensuring great reading is accessible for all. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/samruddock.


The Blog Booksale
Every week on the blog, we'll be offering 25% off a Carcanet title, or titles by a particular author or group of authors. The book(s) on offer will change each week, so watch this space!

This week, it's A Light Song of Light by Kei Miller. Just go to www.carcanet.co.uk and use the code 'SUMMER' to get your discount!

Apsley Street, Glasgow, 2008
I know you do not like
the way I write moments,
how they grow into some kind of magic
you do not always recognise.
I know you think things are simpler
and it is enough to simply say
how things are – like this bed,
its large spread, the colour of tulips;
I know you will say, isn’t it magic enough
that we fall asleep in the tangle of fingers,
that we sometimes dream a single dream.

from A Light Song of Light, copyright © Kei Miller, 2010