The return to reading: How writers' festivals and book clubs are replacing digital raves
By
Clarke Gayford
Summary
A personal essay exploring the author's rediscovery of reading books in the digital age, sparked by a holiday incident where a dead phone battery forced them to pick up a physical book. The article reflects on the growing trend of collective reading experiences—from book clubs to writers' festivals—as a counter-movement to digital isolation, celebrating the return to wood pulp and ink as a form of social connection and mindfulness.
Source
bskyThe return to reading: How writers' festivals and book clubs are replacing digital ravestheguardian.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledThe creeping anxiety of missing global breaking news, or not making it through all the reels my wife had sent me, started to slowly release its grip on my synapses, as sentences on pages swelled to paragraphs that soon arched chapters.
Writers' festivals are the new raves – and as a born-again book reader I couldn't be happier about the upsurge in collectivism.
From local book clubs to group sessions with authors, what's driving people back to wood pulp and ink?
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