2013 Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser
More Australians are reading, and they are reading more often, says Arts in Daily Life, an independent study commissioned by the Australia Council, which provides insight into how Australians participate in the arts today.
The report provides a comparison of shifting attitudes and behavioural trends by benchmarking the findings in 2013 against those from the original study in 2009.
Novels are being read by more Australians and are still the most popular form of literature read in Australia. 73 percent of people have read a novel in the previous year, 3 percentage points higher than in 2009.
Creative non-fiction, which includes biographies, memoirs or histories, is read by 56 percent of people, up from 52 percent in 2009. Poetry is read by 26 percent of people, up from 21 percent in 2009.
2013 Australian Children’s Laureate Jackie French
Other interesting statistics from the study include:
– More than four in five Australians agree that it is exciting to see new styles and types of art; this is up from 81 percent in 2009 to 84 percent in 2013.
– 44 percent of Australians use the internet to research, engage with or follow artists, arts events or art organisations.
– In 2013, about 16 percent of Australians engaged in creative writing over the previous 12 months, the same as in 2009.
– Writing a play is the most social writing activity. A third of people who write plays do this as part of an organised club or group, 19 percent of them with family and friends.
– 19 percent of Australians read a graphic novel or comic book in 2013.
Click here to see the full report
About the Contributor
Andrew Cattanach
Andrew Cattanach is a regular contributor to The Booktopia Blog. He has been shortlisted for The Age Short Story Prize and was named a finalist for the 2015 Young Bookseller of the Year Award. He enjoys reading, writing and sleeping, though finds it difficult to do them all at once.
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