OUP announce new partnership with The Reader

Press Release by Oxford University Press

Today Oxford University Press (OUP) and The Reader announce an exciting new partnership, working together to build a core classics library and to get great literature into the hands of people that need it most, with the Oxford World’s Classics series becoming The Reader’s ‘house brand’ for use in their pioneering Shared Reading initiatives.

This new partnership supports The Reader in their work to improve health and well-being, build resilience and increase social connectivity. The Reader works across diverse areas of life including mental health and dementia, education and criminal justice environments where their Shared Reading model helps people connect with a better understanding of themselves and others, and to realise the changes they want to make. The team and trained volunteers currently read with 2,000 people per week, across a variety of settings, from care homes to prisons, mental health wards to substance mis-use centres, homeless shelters and schools.

Oxford’s mission to facilitate the widest-possible dissemination of high-quality research and scholarship, and the breadth and quality of the Oxford World’s Classics series makes this partnership the perfect match, as Sophie Goldsworthy, Editorial Director at OUP, explains:

“We’re very excited to be forming a collaborative partnership with The Reader and to be making Oxford World’s Classics their house brand. There is a wonderful fit between our two organisations, in terms of education and dissemination, and the drive to put books into the hands of the people who most need them. The impact that classic literature can have in these shared reading scenarios is extraordinary: these books elicit very powerful responses, opening a meaningful space for discussion and giving people the words to share their own stories. Great books have the potential to change lives, and we’re delighted to be playing a small part in helping The Reader in their transformative work.”

The Oxford World’s Classics list publishes over 800 titles across classic literature, philosophy, and classics titles. It is the ideal list to choose from when thinking about important titles to integrate intoShared Reading, as Jane Davis, Founder and Director of The Reader, explains:

“We are thrilled to be launching this partnership with Oxford University Press, one of the world’s greatest publishing houses. As Doris Lessing said in her Nobel Prize acceptance speech “the classics of literature are a treasure house of wisdom for humanity.” We are looking forward to seeing these great texts in the hands of readers for whom they may be a first-time experience and the beginning of a reading journey of a lifetime.”

OUP and The Reader are delighted to form this partnership and excited about the potential these classic works have to make a difference to individual lives.

*ENDS*

Notes to Editors

Press contacts:

Chloe Foster | Oxford University Press | chloe.foster@oup.com

Martin Gallagher-Mitchell | The Reader | martingallagher@thereader.org.uk

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world's largest university press with the widest global presence. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs more than 5,500 people worldwide.

The Reader is an award-winning charity working to connect people with great literature through Shared Reading. The Reader brings books to life by creating welcoming environments in which personal feeling is recognised and valued, forming vital connections between people and literature through which everyone can feel more alive.