Bloomsbury launches adult dyslexia-friendly versions of bestselling backlist through staff-led project

Bloomsbury is launching an ongoing production of a selection of their bestselling trade titles as dyslexia-friendly books.  

Production editor Elizabeth Kellingley had led the project, working closely with backlist manager Duncan Honeyman and editorial assistant Gurdip Ahluwalia. The initiative has been "entirely driven by Bloomsbury colleagues in their spare time, channelling their passion to make books accessible for those that find reading a challenge", the publisher said.  

Bloomsbury added: "This project focuses on producing the books using a large, more readable font, and taking into consideration dyslexia-friendly spacing and paper choices. There are currently very few adult dyslexia-friendly books to choose from in the market. It has involved every part of Bloomsbury’s business from editorial and production to operations and web to ensure that the books are easily accessible for people to purchase." 

Kellingley said: "I’m so grateful that Bloomsbury has given me the opportunity to initiate this project. Accessibility in publishing is something I feel very strongly about, and any opportunity to make books easily available to more people is so rewarding. The fact that we can give an opportunity to read an actual physical book is so exciting."

The following books will be publishing in this new readable format on 31st October, following Dyslexia Awareness Week, which runs from 7th to 13th October.  

The current list includes The Song of Achilles and Circe by Madeline Miller, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Sail Away by Celia Imrie, The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. The books are available to pre-order on the Bloomsbury website.

Ian Hudson, managing director, said: "When a team of passionate people talk to me about their ideas and how they want to contribute to making the reading experience better for people then then I’m always keen to support them. Many people across our company have personal experiences with dyslexia and the fact that Elizabeth, Gurdip and Duncan have brought this project to fruition pays testament to our culture."

Ahluwalia said: "In encouraging people to enjoy our wonderful books and promoting literacy more generally, inclusion needs to be at the forefront of what we do. I’m so proud of Bloomsbury for publishing dyslexia-friendly editions of some of our best-loved books and we hope to carry on the project in the future."