Today, we are delighted to appoint award-winning writer, author and critic Louise Doughty to our Board of Trustees. She joins us in our ambition to support the literacy, learning and wellbeing of one million children most seriously affected by COVID-19 in the next year.
Louise is the bestselling author of nine novels, including the recently published Platform Seven (Faber & Faber UK) and the number one bestseller Apple Tree Yard (Faber & Faber). She has also published a non-fiction title, A Novel in a Year, based on her popular newspaper column, has won awards for her radio dramas and short stories, and is a critic and cultural commentator for UK and international newspapers and broadcasters.
Louise was a judge for the Man Booker Prize in 2008 and the Costa Book of Year Award in 2015 and has chaired many prize panels for new writers including the Orange Award for New Writers, the Fiction Uncovered promotion, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Desmond Elliott Award.
What’s more, having studied at the University of East Anglia, Louise launched a crowdfunding campaign in 2017 to create three scholarships on the University’s world-leading MA Creative Writing programme for black, Asian and minority ethnic students.
We’re very excited to have Louise join us and for her to bring a depth of literary experience and expertise to her role as Trustee, which will help to support and strengthen our mission to change the life stories of disadvantaged children through literacy.
I couldn't be more honoured to be joining the Board of Trustees for the National Literacy Trust, a charity whose mission has become more vital than ever during 2020, when educational opportunities and access to books have been severely affected by school and library closures. The ability to read has long been recognised not only as an important life tool but as solace during times of difficulty and isolation. I'm really looking forward to making my contribution to the work that the charity does in disadvantaged communities across the country.
Louise Doughty