Patients in Kilkenny hospital to be gifted free book on Culture Night

The Read Mór book gifting project is back again for its second year. This time, patients in selected hospitals including St Luke's in Kilkenny, will have an opportunity to participate in Culture Night and escape to the furthest reaches of their imagination with a choice of 29 different books by Irish based authors and publishers.

This year the Arts Council is proud to partner up with HSE Healthy Ireland. Read Mór will ensure that more people in more places can enjoy Culture Night. 

On September 22 the Read Mór ‘Book Doctors’ and their teams will be prescribing over 3,600 free books from their library trolleys as they visit the wards and public spaces in 7 hospitals across Ireland including: Connolly Hospital, Dublin; Letterkenny Hospital, Donegal; Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Galway; St Luke’s Hospital, Kilkenny; Naas Hospital, Kildare; Ennis Hospital, Clare; and Croom Hospital, Limerick on Culture Night. The Book Doctor’s rounds will commence nationwide from 3pm onwards. 

Director of the Arts Council, Maureen Kennelly said: “In a world filled with technological distractions, the joy of reading a physical book remains an invaluable resource. Read Mór is all about the public engaging with stories, ideas, and emotions that transport us to different realms of our imagination.

"This year, Read Mór will also help bring the magic of Culture Night to those who cannot join in with the night’s events in the usual way. We could not have done this without the enthusiastic support of so many writers and publishers. We are especially grateful to our partners in HSE Healthy Ireland for their support in making Read Mór happen in hospitals across Ireland this Culture Night.”

Once finished, patients are encouraged to share the joy of reading by passing on their book when they leave hospital to a family member or friend. With a wide variety being gifted, some as Gaeilge, there will be titles to suit all interests and ages, from novels, short stories, poetry, memoirs, to children’s and young adult books. Audiobook versions of a selection of the titles will also be available. 

There are a wealth of authors who are part of the Read Mór book gifting programme including Eimear McBride, who won the inaugural Goldsmith prize; John Banville, winner of the Booker Prize 2005; Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, leading Irish poet; Oein DeBhairduin, co-founder of LGBT TARA (Traveller and Roma Alliance); and Emma Donoghue, whose book was transformed into the Oscar winning film, Room; and many more!