Ever curled up on a good book? The National Literacy Trust – the charity dedicated to raising literacy levels in the UK – is inviting artists to send in designs for an exciting new public art project: ‘Books about Town’.

The project, to be unveiled this summer, will feature a series of ‘BookBenches’, seats boasting illustrations inspired by literary works with a connection to London.

The aim is to promote reading for pleasure, and encourage visitors to discover the BookBenches by following literary trails around the city. One of the benches already complete (by artist Mik Richardson) is inspired by children’s classic The Wind in the Willows. It will sit beside the Bank of England (where Kenneth Grahame worked as a secretary).

So if you are an artist and would like to submit a design for the project – run in partnership with arts and education company Wild in Art – you can download the artist’s information and apply here.

Some suggestions of books with links to London can be found here. Artists are free to choose a title from this list (which includes Paddington Bear) or create a BookBench design inspired by another piece of work altogether.

If are interested in submitting a design don’t dally! The deadline for entries is 5pm on Monday 20 January 2014.

For more information, contact Aimee Faunt: aimee.faunt@literacytrust.org.uk.
For general information about the National Literacy Trust, contact Jo Franks: jo.franks@literacytrust.org.uk.

Get the latest news on this exciting venture at http://www.literacytrust.org.uk or follow the Trust on Facebook or Twitter.