Penguin Books announces new partnership with Bradford UK City of Culture 2025

Penguin Books has announced a new partnership with Bradford UK City of Culture 2025. The new partnership aims to "foster a new generation of readers, writers, and publishers by breaking down barriers to books, reading, and the publishing industry". This is the first time that the publisher has partnered with the UK City of Culture initiative, which designates a different city every four years to host a year-long programme of cultural festivities.

Throughout 2025, Penguin Books will undertake a series of initiatives "designed to inspire and engage the Bradford community". Penguin is aiming to foster a love of reading and support educational diversity, and the publisher is donate a total of 4,600 books to the 46 local state secondary schools in Bradford.

Penguin is also running an event titled "Reflective Practice on Diversity: What Can I Do from Today?" for secondary school English literature teachers. The event "aims to enhance teachers’ confidence and knowledge regarding race and racism, and will include provide practical tips, book recommendations, and sample lesson plans to help diversify the teaching of English literature".

The publisher will also run a free public event to demystify the publishing process for aspiring writers, and the panel discussion will feature a published author, a Penguin editor, and a literary agent.

Penguin will also be running careers workshops in three Bradford secondary schools. These sessions, led by Penguin employees, "will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of various career opportunities in publishing and include free books and merchandise".

The UK City of Culture initiative aims to drive long-term cultural regeneration and provide significant funding to the winning city.

The scheme is projected to attract around 3.3 million new visitors, with a likely visitor spend of approximately £140 million directly contributing to the district’s economy. Additionally, the initiative will create around 6,500 jobs and more than 6,000 training opportunities for local residents by 2030.

Meredith Adams, head of social impact at Penguin, said: "We’re delighted to be working with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture to celebrate the power of literature and reading in local communities. Our programme of activities across the year will include book donations to local secondary schools, workshops for aspiring writers and young people interested in careers in publishing, and much more."