Ann Cleeves, who has created the books behind the hit TV series Vera and Shetland, has joined Queen Camilla for a brand new project aiming to find the country’s top reading champions
Queen Camilla is breaking down snobbery in reading – and in turn it’s helping those struggling with their mental health, according to the best-selling author behind the Vera and Shetland books.
Ann Cleeves, whose novels have been turned into two hit drama series that have captivated viewers on ITV and the BBC, has hailed the Queen for her love of books and championing reading as a way of escaping everyday life. The novelist, who is working on her latest book in her crime detective series Vera, which saw Brenda Blethyn play the character in the long-running ITV drama, has long advocated the emotional benefits of reading for pleasure.
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It echoes the work of Camilla, who is known for her love of reading, and set up her Queen’s Reading Room initiative, which initially started with her recommending some of her favourite books and authors.
Ann has met Camilla, most recently at Clarence House earlier this year – and now she has been invited to join the judging panel on a new project – the Queen’s Reading Room Medal.
And speaking to the Mirror, the celebrated author says it’s wonderful Camilla is “doing away with” a certain type of ‘sniffiness’ when it comes to reading and enjoying books.
She explained: “Her Majesty obviously loves books – and what I admire the most is that she doesn’t necessarily pick classics or literary fiction. She’s just as happy to read a good murder or read something that the rest of us would read as an escape.
“In the past, there has been a bit of snobbishness around reading, and I think it’s brilliant that the medal and everything Her Majesty has said has been around ‘if you’re having a good time with a book, it’s a good book’.
“Popular genre authors that literary reviewers may have been a bit sniffy about, she has been doing away with that kind of snobbery, which is wonderful.”
Camilla announced the launch of the Queen’s Reading Room Medal earlier this year, which will be a national honour awarded annually to people who support storytelling in their local communities.
It is a spin off from the Queen’s Reading Room, a charity she founded following the success of her Instagram book club during the pandemic. It has since grown into a global hub for reading advocacy, with a podcast, research initiatives, and an annual literary festival drawing tens of thousands of visitors.
Nominations for the Queen’s Reading Room Medal are open until the end of the month and include people who have set up community reading groups, improved access to local libraries, donated books to those in need, or organised local literary festivals.
Ann is on the judging panel along with other leading publishing and literary figures – with Camilla understood to be delighted to have the best-selling author among those taking part in the project.
The author explained: “It is an honour to be asked to do something by Her Majesty and also I saw it as a way of getting the word out there and celebrating those people and volunteers, who go in and maybe read to stroke victims in hospitals or people set up reading groups for teenagers in their local libraries.
“It doesn’t matter. It is not about reading being some kind of chore or feeling we have to do, it is just sharing that immense pleasure in losing yourself in a story.”
Ann combines her busy writing schedule with helping to run the north-east-based Reading for Wellbeing organisation, which promotes reading as a way of supporting mental wellbeing, which caught the eye of Camilla and the Queen’s Reading Room chairity.
The author set up the organisation after experiencing for herself how getting lost in a book can help in times of struggle.
The organisation works with local GPs, who can refer patients who may be struggling to join one of their reading groups, where participants read for pleasure before joining together to discuss what they’ve read.
She explained: “Reading has seen me through some tough times. I had cancer when I was in my 30s and then my husband had bipolar disorder and until he was properly diagnosed that was quite tricky, balancing that with two kids.
“But what really got me through those tricky times was reading. And I thought, let’s see if this works. If it works for me, it might work for other people. Reading for Wellbeing then started.
“Reading is not about literacy even – it’s about losing yourself in a story and people can do that if they are listening to audio books or if they’re reading graphic novels – and something I often say is if you’ve got lots of depressed and angry thoughts rattling around in your head, it is really lovely to get inside someone else’s head for a bit. And when you’re reading, you can see the world through other people’s eyes.
“At one talk I did, one woman part of our group talked about how she had been going through a bad time in her life because her husband had died and her mum had died and she said in the past, I would have gone along to my GP and asked for some anti-depressants, but now I’ve got the group I don’t need to. I go along, I read a book and I chat to my friends.”
Vicki Perrin, the CEO of the Queen’s Reading Room, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Ann Cleeves as a judge for The Queen’s Reading Room Medal. Her extraordinary storytelling has captivated readers worldwide, and as founder of Reading for Wellbeing, she understands the profound ways reading can transform and enrich lives.
“Her insight will be invaluable as we celebrate the wonderful volunteers who go above and beyond to champion books and reading in their communities.
“We are thrilled to have Ann join our distinguished panel of judges as they honour those making such a difference through the joy of reading.”
Visit thequeensreadingroom.co.uk/the-queens-reading-room-medal for nominations, which are open until December 31.
