Bestselling author Jojo Moyes has called on the government and the publishing industry to do more about the UK’s “shameful” adult literacy record.
In 2018, Moyes, writer of global hits including Me Before You and The Girl You Left Behind, donated three years of funding to charity the Reading Agency for its Quick Reads scheme, saving the scheme from closure when its previous sponsorship ran out.
While she was “proud to be able to help out as a private individual”, she is furious at what she calls governmental and industry failure to understand the importance of Quick Reads.
“Both the government and the publishing industry should stand up and be counted,” she said. “It was very important to me that, having been so lucky myself as an author, I was able to give back in this way but I do hope that other organisations, publishers in particular, start to step up over the next few years.”
