Rewarding Reads

with Libraries Ireland and Creative Ireland

During lockdown in Ireland, as with many countries, a terrible ennui plagued citizens as our lives came to terms with significant restrictions. But while we were held back physically, our minds and imaginations were free to wander. 

And that’s just what this campaign encouraged us all to do, to escape through the words and stories of the myriad of world-renowned Irish authors.

Libraries Ireland and Creative Ireland tasked us with encouraging people to pick up a book, start a new story and celebrate our country’s phenomenal legacy of talented writers of all ages, genres and styles.

Storytelling and story tellers have always been at the heart of Irish culture. Rewarding Reads is the campaign that used book titles, from a litany of Irish literary luminaries, to generate a series of new stories. Each of the titles, available from local libraries, worked cheek by jowl with other titles to create a piece of flash fiction. 

For example, four titles that created a new story included: Milkman. The Mammy. A Modest Proposal. The Snapper. Or how about a romantic tryst: This Charming Man. Promising Young Women. Under The Hawthorn Tree. PS. I Love You. Not to mention the unexpected plot twist from these four titles: Peig. When All Is Said. A Greyhound Of A Girl. Under The Duvet.

Authors' titles featured in the campaign ranged from Flann O’Brien to Roddy Doyle, James Joyce to Edna O’Brien and Marian Keyes to Sally Rooney.

Rewarding Reads also encouraged Ireland’s avid readers to create their own "book title story" via the Libraries Ireland social channels using the hashtag #StartANewStory