The Kingston University Big Read

Join the KU Big Read

The Kingston University Big Read is our award-winning shared-reading scheme. If you are a new student starting Kingston University in September 2024, you will receive a free copy of this year's Big Read title.

To take part in the Big Read, just read the book over the summer and join in the discussions and events that take place online over the summer. Arrive ready to talk about your experiences when you reach University in September. Current students and staff will read the same book so you will have plenty to talk about when you meet. You might also like to share the book with your family and friends – finding out how different people read the same book can be fun and interesting.

When you get to Kingston University there will be lots of opportunities to share your thoughts – as well as the chance to meet the author and have your book signed. For now, bear in mind that all the students coming to Kingston, as well as the staff and students already here, are having the same experience.

If you are a new student starting Kingston University in September 2024, you will receive a free copy of this year's Big Read title, Everything is Everything.

The Big Read 2024

Everything is Everything is a memoir from internationally renowned journalist and broadcaster, Clive Myrie. Reflecting on a life spent telling some of the biggest stories of our time, from the horrific violence in Borneo to the British-American invasion of Iraq and, most recently, the ongoing war in Ukraine.

As a Bolton teenager with a paper round, Clive Myrie read the newspapers he delivered from cover to cover and dreamed of becoming a journalist. In this deeply personal memoir, he tells how his family history has influenced his view of the world, introducing us to his Windrush generation parents, a great grandfather who helped build the Panama Canal, and a great uncle who fought in the First World War – and later went on to become a prominent police detective in Jamaica.

He reflects on how being black has affected his perspective on issues he's encountered in 30 years of reporting, showing us how those experiences gave him a better idea of what it means to be an outsider. He talks of the pride he feels for his roots, and his determination not to be defined by his background.

Moving, engaging, revealing, this is a story of love and hate but also hope. Our next Big Read for 2024 is Everything is Everything, by Clive Myrie.

Check out this special message Clive has kindly recorded for us.

The Big Read Book Club

The Big Read Book Club began during lockdown, as a means of connecting our university community when we could not meet. It offers a series of online hour-long seminars which draw on themes from our shared-read, with experts from a variety of disciplines and roles offering relevant perspectives on the weeks topic.

The full schedule of the Big Read Book Club events for 2024 and links to book your free ticket are below.

Week 1: What university did for me

  • Date: Wednesday 21 August
  • Time: 1-2pm
  • Venue: Online

For our first Big Read Book Club seminar we look at the experience of attending university and how it changed our speakers – and how they then found working on the other side of the fence, as in one case an educator and the other a university administrator.

We are joined by: The Rt Reverend Dr Martin Gainsborough, Bishop of Southwark, who graduated with a degree in Geography from the University of Bristol and was Professor for Development Politics at Bristol University for 6 years (2012-18); Louisa Green, Kingston's Executive Director, Student Services, who read English at Oxford before embarking on a career on the administrative and professional side of university organisation, and Charles Hewitt, Kingston alumnus, and now CEO of Pen and Sword, who can offer guidance on what makes a good biography/autobiography.

We will probably also reflect on what our Big Read author Clive Myrie had to say about his first weeks at university, based on the letter he has written to be mailed out with the book. Whether you are just embarking on your higher education pathway or have long worked within a university, do join us to reflect on how the experience is shaping you.

Speakers

  • Rt Rev'd Martin Gainsborough, Bishop of Kingston, contactable through his chaplain Rev'd Vanessa Elston
  • Louisa Green, Executive Director, Student Services, Kingston University
  • Charles Hewitt, CEO of Pen and Sword Publishers

Book your ticket for Week 1: What university did for me.

Week 2: The importance of Immigration in staffing the NHS

  • Date: Wednesday 28 August
  • Time: 5-6pm
  • Venue: Online

The NHS has been a world-leading example of social healthcare since its inception in 1948. However, work-force shortages in its earliest days nearly brought the fledgling service to its knees. Now, the NHS is facing the same under-staffing crisis as it experienced all those decades ago.

Join us in exploring the invaluable role migrant workers (many of whom arrived that same year, aboard the Empire Windrush) played in building our National Health Service, and discussing the injustices faced by many of those essential healthcare workers in the years and decades that followed.

Speakers

  • Claire Thurgate, Professor of Nursing and Head of Nursing at KU
  • Ricarda Micallef, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy, Kingston University

Book your ticket for Week 2: The importance of Immigration in staffing the NHS

Week 3: How long should a community have to wait for justice?

  • Date: Wednesday 4 September
  • Time: 1-2pm
  • Venue: Online

Windrush has migrated from being the name of a vessel to a collective noun for a generation, with prejudice initially confirmed by institutional unfairness and then fuelled by an unwillingness to acknowledge either the scale of the problem or the need for recompense.

The difficulty for us as a wider society is this is a repeated story. The infected blood scandal, the Post Office enquiry and now the case of Andrew Malkinson have all revealed similar tendencies to stick to an established narrative. Is this in the interests of maintaining reputation or the status quo, or pure inertia?

In this seminar, Professor Wilson Muleya looks at the arrival of the Windrush and subsequent outcomes for what is now known as the Windrush Generation. Dr Pete Finn makes comparisons with other scandals that went on for far too long. What can we learn from society's initial reluctance to acknowledge a problem? What will make us more able to spot what's wrong and be more accepting of the need to do something about it?

Speakers

  • Professor Wilson Muleya, Head of Department for Social Work and Social Care
  • Dr Pete Finn, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Politics and Sociology

Book your ticket for Week 3: How long should a community have to wait for justice?

Week 4: Who gets to tell the world what's happening? The role of the journalist

  • Date: Wednesday 11 September
  • Time: 5-6pm
  • Venue: Online

From the frontlines in Ukraine to the genocide unfurling in Gaza, journalists like Clive Myrie risk their reputations, careers and lives to bring the pressing stories of our time to us.

But what is the role of the journalist in the modern age? And how – if at all - has this changed as the means for sharing news have evolved? Join us in discussing the role of the journalist with guest speakers.

Book your ticket to Week 4: Who gets to tell the world what's happening?

Week 5: Policing, racism and reform

  • Date: Wednesday 18 September
  • Time: 1-2pm
  • Venue: Online

The issue of systemic racism in policing has been highlighted in recent years by the murders of George Floyd in the US and Chris Kaba in the UK. More recently, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, the daughters of Mina Smallman, arguably got much less police (or media) attention than they deserved.

So despite worldwide focus on this issue, is policing still entrenched in systemic racism? What systems are in place to prevent discrimination and ensure equal protection for everyone? And how might we go about reforming these institutions to create a justice system that is fair, fit and effective for all? Join us in discussing all these important issues with our guest speakers.

Speakers

  • Dr Tolulope Eboka, Senior Lecturer in Criminology
  • Professor Jon Garland, University of Surrey (his research is in the fields of hate crime, policing, prisons, rural racism, the far-right, community and identity, and victimisation)
  • Professor Mark Walters, Professor of Law, University of Sussex

Book your ticket to Week 5: Policing, racism and reform

The Big Read 2024 shortlist

The Big Read 2024 shortlist

We are proud to announce the Big Read 2024 shortlist:

  • The Darkness Manifesto by Johan Eklof
  • Iron Curtain by Vesna Goldsworthy
  • Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
  • The Future of Geography by Tim Marshall
  • Everything is Everything: A Memoir of Love, Hate & Hope by Clive Myrie
  • The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

What are the origins of the KU Big Read?

Kingston University has a really strong sense of community. Since 2015/16 we have been building this through the development of our award-winning Kingston University Big Read.

First offered in 2015, the Kingston University Big Read aims to make those coming to the University feel welcome before they arrive, and to create links between them and the staff and students already here.

On meeting their offer, each new student (undergraduate and postgraduate) will receive a free copy of that year's special edition Kingston University Big Read title. Current students and staff will be invited to help themselves to a free copy from one of the many locations across the University's campuses. Available early in July, copies can be taken away on holiday and discussed with wider family and friends.

The scheme is based on similar projects in the USA, which have shown that creating a community through shared reading before students arrive helps them feel welcome, settle in quickly and adjust to their new life as a student. Whereas a few universities in the UK have experimented with reading schemes linked to specific types of books (e.g. prize winners) within particular faculties, Kingston University is the first UK university to establish a scheme on such a wide scale, and to involve both the full University and the local community.

What are the origins of the KU Big Read?
Colleagues from Kingston University attending the prestigious Times Higher Education's Annual awards where the project secured 'Widening Participation/Outreach of the Year' in November 2017
How the Big Read developed

How the Big Read developed

The potential relevance of the project was explored through questionnaires given to first year students in 2015. After a very positive response, we trialed the scheme for those joining the University in autumn 2015. Students loved it, and talked of their excitement at receiving a 'gift' from their University – as well as feeling 'expected' and 'welcomed'. One of the most interesting findings, however, was the impact the project had within Kingston University staff. Many were more eager to participate than had been anticipated. The title chosen for the first Kingston University Big Read was Nick Hornby's About a Boy.

Since 2016, the process for choosing the book has been much more complex. The starting point is suggestions made by staff and students. All suggestions are carefully analysed according to a number of criteria considered important, in order to find a book that all can read with interest. The information is loaded into a database so that comparisons can be made. The result is an algorithm, which produces a shortlist of six titles. A panel of volunteers spends two months reading and deliberating, before coming to its final decision: the chosen Kingston University Big Read.

Previous winning titles

Here is a list of our previous winning titles since the beginning of the project in 2015:

  • 2015: About a Boy by Nick Hornby
  • 2016: The Humans by Matt Haig
  • 2017: My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal
  • 2018: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
  • 2019: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
  • 2020: Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News by Emily Maitlis
  • 2021: The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney by Okechukwu Nzelu 
  • 2022: The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper
  • 2023: Hello World: How to be Human in the Age of the Machine by Hannah Fry

In 2016/17 we shared our Big Read with Edinburgh Napier, to explore how pre-arrival shared-reading worked across two universities committed to widening participation. In 2017/18 we worked with Wolverhampton University and in 2018/19 with Wolverhampton, Edge Hill University and the University of the West of Scotland. In both 2020/21 and 2021/22 we worked with Edge Hill University and St. George's, University of London. In both 2022/23 and 2023/24, we are working with St George's, University of London, Royal Holloway, University of London, and the University of Sussex.

Spines of the books that won previous years of the Kingston University Big Read.

Big Read partners

We work with many partners to bring you the Kingston University Big Read. These include publishers, authors, Kingston Borough, and the Higher Education sector. All the universities we have worked with are institutions committed to widening participation. If you would like to know more, or consider becoming a partner too, please contact us at kubigread@kingston.ac.uk.

Publishers

We have been pleased to work with the following publishers:

The Pigeonhole

In 2016 Kingston University teamed up with the global book club and digital reading platform, The Pigeonhole, to digitally serialise the year's Kingston University Big Read choice, Matt Haig's The Humans.

The partnership with The Pigeonhole allowed a further 10,000 members of staff and existing students to join the scheme and receive a free digital version of the book via an app and web-reader which they used to interact with each other before and after arriving at the University.

Local community

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

Working closely with our local community, the Big Read joined forces with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, specifically working closely with local libraries in the area. We have spoken at a meeting of Kingston Council and collaborated with colleagues in various departments.

Joel Community Services

Joel Community Services is a local night shelter community based on mutual respect, support and co-operation. In 2016 the Big Read gave a number of our special edition copies of The Humans to guests and volunteers at Joel Community Services. Author Matt Haig was keen to join them for a meal and discussion, both about the book and his work as an author. We have remained in touch ever since.

Contact us

If you would like more information regarding the Kingston University Big Read, to suggest a title, or to volunteer to be part of an upcoming selection committee, please contact us at: kubigread@kingston.ac.uk.

Alternatively, for press information, please contact the Kingston University Communications team.