World Book Day Children's Writing Competition

The year 2026 is National Year of Reading and this along with World Book Day 2026 on March 5, is a great chance for every child, including those with reading impairments and vision impairments, to enjoy and celebrate their love of reading and storytelling.To mark the occasion, leading sight loss charity, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is running a creative writing competition so children with vision impairments can express their creativity and love of books.The competition is open to any child or young person between the ages of 5-12 years with a vision impairment in the UK. The last date to submit entries is Monday 23 February 2026.We can’t wait to read your submission and wish you the very best of luck!For full details of how to enter the competition, email [email protected]

In today's episode Robert Kirkwood chats to Katie Kitamura about her novel Audition, an exhilarating, destabilising novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love.They chat about dimension shifts, narration and why the book was almost called Performance.Plus we find some new books in the RNIB Library.

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller is an atmospheric novel set during a famously freezing 1960s winter, exploring the minutiae of married life through the interior lives of two couples. Robert Kirkwood talks to Andrew about his inspiration for the novel, why it's not based on his parents and about his first time narrating one of his novels.

A book 19 years in the making, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai is a spellbinding story of two young people whose fates intersect and diverge across continents and years – an epic of love and family, India and America, tradition and modernity. Robert Kirkwood asks Kiran about her writing process, casting the audio version and where to get a good kebab in New York.

A listen back to the times I was set free at both Boswell and Wigtown Book Festivals featuring Rupert Everett, Louise Minchin, Wayne Sleep, Dom Joly and Andrew O'Hagan.

A listen back to some 2025 highlights from later in last year including Percival Everett, Yael van der Wouden, Nate Lessore, Margaret McDonald, David Szalay and pay tribute to Frederick Forsythe and Dame Stella Rimington.

A listen back to some 2025 highlights from early last year including AJ West, Yael van der Wouden, Rachel Kushner, Clare Mackintosh, Lucy Edwards and pay tribute to narrator Steve Hodson.

In today's Read On, Robert Kirkwood chats to the Map Men, also known as Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones about their debut book This Way Up - When Maps Go Wrong (and why it matters).In the second part of their chat they discuss accessibility, made up mountains, an audiobook co-incidence and even have a feel of a tactile map from RNIB.Plus we'll find some more festive books in the RNIB Library.

In today's Read On, Robert Kirkwood chats to the Map Men, also known as Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones about their debut book This Way Up - When Maps Go Wrong (and why it matters). In this first part of a two part show Jay and Mark talk about accents, breaking the fourth wall and addressing the listener directly and about turning a very visual book into an audiobook. Plus we'll find some festive books in the RNIB Library.

Author of many favourites in the RNIB Library, Joanna herself was very aware of the importance of accessibility as she had an eye condition that made her partially sighted. Here she is on the importance of Talking Books