TUDOR TIMES COME TO YORK FOR BIG CITY READ

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 10th Jun 2009

This year's Big City Read is set to take people back to the time of Henry VIII as people are invited to read 'Sovereign', a murder mystery set in Tudor York.

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Leisure and Culture, Councillor Nigel Ayre will be meeting the book's author C.J. Sansom ahead of the launch of a series of events to celebrate the book's themes.

Special exhibitions throughout the summer will allow readers to find out more about King Henry VIII and there will even be the opportunity to taste Tudor food based on an actual feast attended by the King.

Councillor Ayre said, "Encouraging people to read the same book at the same time is a great way of bringing people together through culture. Hopefully people will be inspired to come along to the special events to find out more about the history on which the book is based."

"Events like the Big City Read are a great way to get people to read more and to encourage more people to find out what the city's libraries have to offer."

Residents will be able to collect a free copy of Sovereign on Friday 26 June, when the council's Libraries' Team will be giving them away in St Sampson's Square.

C.J. Sansom will be visiting York Library on Tuesday 16 June to talk about the book and his historical crime series which has sold over 1.25 million copies in the UK alone.