On Thursday, Parisa Liljestrand was on hand to inaugurate the Book Fair in Gothenburg, whose themes this year deal with Jewish culture, sound and the city. She then talked about the important role of literature and reading in society. Ultimately, the culture minister claimed, it is a question of democracy.
— We need education to understand each other and that is also why I am concerned about the division we see when it comes to children and young people’s reading. Some groups read more and that is extremely gratifying, but others read less and I am concerned about that, she says.
In a tough economic situation, Liljestrand was clear that culture had to take a back seat in the latest budget. But one of the areas that the government has chosen to focus on is reading.
The responsibility of the whole society
And in a new report from the Norwegian Media Council, it is stated that a negative trend has been broken: young people are now reading more than before. Exactly what is behind the trend break has not yet been established and it is still a matter of low levels. Still, there are reasons to be hopeful, says the Minister of Culture.
— We have to be, but I think that at the same time we should be realistic and realize that this is not something that comes by itself. It is a responsibility we must bear as a society to ensure that the next generation becomes readers, says Liljestrand.
TT: Has politics done enough to strengthen literature and reading?
— The result we have today shows that no one has done enough. But it is extremely important that everyone – civil society, parents, publishers, libraries – join forces and help each other on this issue, says Parisa Liljestrand.
Police security outside the Book Fair at the Swedish Fair in Gothenburg which opens on Thursday. This is what the Minister of Culture reads
The program for this year’s Book Fair – which has increased security as a result of the increased terrorist threat level in Sweden – is packed. One of the first items was a panel discussion with Parisa Liljestrand who got to talk about which books a culture minister reads. She then chose to highlight Anita Goldman’s “The Last Woman from Ur” from 1988.
— I read it recently and became very fond of it. Then I read Diamant Salihu’s new book “When nobody listens”. I read a lot of books at the same time and it will be a lot of different genres as well.