Battle Satellite - Dangerous books for boys? The literacy debate with Damian Barr, Melvin Burgess and more

Nearly a quarter of boys apparently find reading 'boring' while a leading children's novelist has warned we are facing a 'national catastrophe' unless schools are prepared to teach 'boy-friendly' books. Are schools creating 'gender ghettoes'? Has panic over literacy obscured the benefits of teaching literature?

Speakers: Damian Barr (writer; salonier, Shoreditch House Literary Salon); Melvin Burgess (children's novelist; author, Junk and Kill All Enemies); Jonathan Douglas (director, National Literacy Trust); K.A.S. Quinn (author, The Queen Must Die); Alka Sehgal Cuthbert (English teacher; PhD researcher, Education, University of Cambridge) + others TBC
Chair: David Bowden (Battle Satellite Co-ordinator, Institute of Ideas)

Venue: The Gallery at Foyles
Tickets: £7.50/5.00 via www.battleofideas.org.uk or call 0207 269 9220