On World Book Day 2022, Exeter College is celebrating its partnership with the Exeter City of Literature and its announcement that it is now a registered charity and independent organisation. This partnership has bought many benefits to the College including learners accessing a wide range of events linked to City of Literature which enhances their studies with the College and their connection back to the cultural and literary capital of Exeter and the wider community. 

Exeter College is firmly embedded in the activity and partnership work which emanates from the City of Literature organisation. One recent example of this in action is the recent Shon Faye event which the College had the pleasure of hosting and saw them working with a range of partners to bring our students and local community together to support LGBTQIA+. Students also had the opportunity to attend a writing workshop with Shon Faye. 

Learners are also benefiting from the strengthening partnerships emerging from the City of Literature which will enhance learners’ personal and potentially professional skills development. Upcoming projects include a Bibliotherapy Skills Adult Learning Course in the spring, which will run for nine weeks every term. 

Dee Rowett, Exeter City of Literature Board Chair and Exeter College Director of Learning & Teaching, said, “I am delighted that we can celebrate World Book Day in collaboration with Exeter City of Literature’s announcement today as a registered charity. We’ve seen so many opportunities emerging for our learners and the wider community as a direct result of Exeter City of Literature and there are some exciting plans to further strengthen the collaboration between Exeter College, Exeter City of Literature and other partner organisations.

“I believe that Exeter City of Literature can make a real difference to the experience of our students here at the college, opening up links to explore stories and storytelling in a way that connects them to the local community, other partner organisations, and to ultimately provide them with some fantastic learning opportunities. We’ve already seen the benefits of this from visiting authors, to writing competitions and broader creative outreach links; I can’t wait to see how our learners engage with Exeter City of Literature over the next few years.” 

To celebrate this partnership and World Book Day, student Linus Day, has designed a bookmark (pictured above) to give out to students in the college Learning Resource Centres. Linus is an A Level student studying Graphics, History and Sociology. 

Speaking about World Book Day, A Level student, Jemima Horne said; “It is important that we recognise books on a day like today because books really increase a person’s empathy and so they are an important thing to have as a part of your life to become a more empathetic person. My favourite book at the moment is Heaven by Mieko Kawakami.”