Dawn of the Unread nominated for Guardian University Award

Dawn of the Unread has been nominated for a Guardian University Award. A truly excellent initiative, Nottingham Trent University - Dawn of the Unread, is on the shortlist for ‘Teaching Excellence’ along with NTU – Scale Up and University of Sheffield.

Dawn of the Unread is an interactive graphic novel that is available across all media platforms (iPad, Android, iPhone, website). It was launched on National Libraries’ Day (8 Feb 2014) as a 16 part serial and finishes on 8 June 2015. Literary figures from Nottingham’s past (real and fictional) return from the grave to visit the city as it is today. There’s a zombie theme with our poorly read nation the zombies in need of saving. Keeping our great history alive and bringing our heritage to a new readership falls on the shoulders of local contemporary writers such as Alison Moore and Nicola Monaghan. Each commissioned writer has a different local icon to feature, and each chapter has a place of reading (library, archive or bookshop) at the centre of the narrative.

The chapters come out monthly and each one ends with the chance to join the Unread Library as there are optional tasks to attempt, with scores recorded on a virtual library card and the chance to feature as a character.

It’s a big project that has involved about 100 NTU students and provides much more than the comic stories. There are ‘how to’ videos at the end of each comic and loads of hidden content like essays about the characters involved that should engage many different demographics.

Dawn of the Unread is promoting our literary heritage and helping address the problem of our schools falling literacy levels using social media, Tumblr and Instagram, embedded links, visual storytelling, video, Apps, and modern means of communication to engage younger readers. And once you have their attention you have a chance.

Dawn of the Unread is suitable for 13 year olds and all people over that age.