literature activities

Find out about the various areas in which we work along with useful information about UK and Commonwealth literature within those areas.

For each Activity you will find a mix of information on: British Council events and projects around the world; where to find information about events in the UK; study opportunities in the UK; distance learning and online courses available for the rest of the world; major UK organisations; relevant books; author information; British Council publications and resources; relevant periodicals; a list of useful web links; and frequently asked questions with answers.

Currently the UK is in the forefront of a movement that promotes reading and recognises that readers are the principle audiences for literature. We are developing many creative reading projects that are supported by our world-wide book group website enCompassCulture.   

New Writing showcases new creative writing from the UK and Commonwealth, and the Radiophonics project now has its own dedicated web site.    

We are developing resources and projects to support Children's Literature work overseas such enCompassculture, author visits, creative reading projects for young people and teacher training and exchanges.    

We have developed the Literary Translation website, run seminars on Arabic and Spanish translation, provided a grant to the Arts Council of England for use for translation and are currently actively developing creative writing projects involving translation on the web.   

Literature is a way to experience a culture and can be a form of intercultural exchange. Teachers of English creative writing and reading are part of the process of learning English.    

UK playwrights run workshops around the world. We have information about them and about playwriting courses. The Performing Arts department of the British Council tours UK plays.   

Innovative poetry projects at the British Council include the Power in the Voice project based in six African countries and the Animating Literature project in East Asia which also focuses on performance poetry and workshops.   

Science and literature projects are being developed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA. They range from biblographies and web resources to author debates and attendance at book exhibitions.   

Our Sport in Literature bibliography on enCompassCulture, aims to highlight some of the best in British sporting literature, acknowledging the significance of sports writing within the contemporary writing scene.    

The British Council Literature team has worked with and will continue to work with talented storytellers all around the world.   

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