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.
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