our selection in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais

In 2023, 1 in 5 young people say they do not read at all. This is the sad observation of a barometric study carried out every two years by the National Book Center.

The study also reveals that the time spent reading is much less than that spent on screen, on average 41 minutes per day, or 4 hours 47 minutes per week reading books compared to 3 hours 14 hours per day, or 22 hours 38 hours per week on screen.

For Régine Hatchondo, president of the CNL, “This new study confirms the unequal battle between screens and books. The omnipresence of screens in our lives, especially among the youngest, devours the time spent on reading.

Declared a great national cause, a multitude of initiatives are organized each year as part of reading. National events are being developed to reach a wider and more diverse audience.

This ninth edition, this year, focuses on the theme of “heritages”. Personal heritages bequeathed by our real or imaginary families as well as collective ones, heritage of a culture, a territory, of humanity. Literature being both a component of this heritage, and a way of bringing it to life.

Sponsored by the writer Maylis de Kerangal and the journalist Stéphane Bern, this major back-to-school cultural event will again this year revolve around different events in libraries, bookstores, but also in schools, theaters, museums, cultural and artistic places, associative and solidarity spaces, prison structures, French Institutes, and, of course, heritage sites, thus reaffirming the essential place of books and reading to everyone.

Four exceptional days and four nights, during which thousands of events will be scheduled throughout France and beyond its borders. And of course in our region. More than 500 events await you in Hauts-de-France, around the pleasure of reading and sharing reading.

From Dunkirk to Boulogne-sur-Mer, via Artois, discover a rich cultural program that combines literature, history and local know-how during Reading Nights which will take place from January 23 to 26.

On the Lille metropolis side:

In Lille, it's a beautiful meeting between literature and dance which is offered to you at the municipal library of Lille, Saturday January 25 from 6 p.m.

The author Samira El Ayachi will present her novel “Le Ventre des hommes” (editions de l'aube, 2021), in which she deploys writing work around the transmission of heritage. Meeting punctuated by impromptu hip-hop dance.

The library will also offer a reading by New Zealand author Mia Farlane, as well as a family evening based on family stories.

32-34 rue Edouard Delesalle 59000 Lille

www.bm-lille.fr

The city of Roubaix meet you at the National School for Judicial Youth Protection (ENPJJ), Thursday January 23 at 6:30 p.m.

Historian and researcher at the Institute for the History of Present Times, Mathias Gardet focuses his research on social policies with regard to childhood and youth. He will present his latest book, “We came to France”. Voices of young Algerians 1945-1963 (Anamosa, 2024), halfway between archival document and personal story.

By registration on 03 50 03 14 33

16 rue du Curoir 59100 Roubaix

www.enpjj.justice.fr

Still in Roubaix, The Le Non-Lieu association invites you on Friday January 24 at 7 p.m., to an artistic encounter, in the heart of the Cavrois-Mahieu textile factory, witness to the industrial adventure of the Cavrois family, but also thousands of workers and workers who worked there from 1887 to 2000. For an evening, you will be invited to knit or embroider on a work, whatever it may be, while listening to a reader of the Non-Lieu presents a thematic selection of novels and essays.

By registration 117 rue Montgolfier 59100 Roubaix

www.non-lieu.fr

In WattrelosSaturday January 25, we offer you a reading aloud marathon from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Do you know the famous New York marathon? This marathon which extends over 42 kilometers across the “Big Apple” and which requires a year of preparation…Don't panic, the “reading marathon” is far from being as sporty.
Come read and/or listen to your own texts or choose the texts made available.
The marathon must last 2 hours, so if you want to become relay readers, it is possible from the age of 8.

2, rue Emile Basly Wattrelos
59150 Wattrelos

03.20.81.66.38

At the Orchies Media Library, prepare yourself for an avalanche of words, Saturday January 25 at 7 p.m., with Michel Perché, the inventor of zodiacal tantrism. The only registered practitioner, he offers you a very special meditation session, which consists of tickling your ear chakras with a verbal avalanche from which you will have difficulty recovering. A sort of collective therapy through laughter.

At Lensthe Miners' Union House, invites you to discover the exhibition “The mine and the pencil”, to understand how mining culture inspired cartoonists and screenwriters. As part of Reading Nights, Friday January 24 and Saturday January 25, two exceptional evenings are offered with narrated comic book readings and flashlight visits.

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32 rue Casimir Beugnet 62300 Lens

www.mag.agglo-lenslievin.fr

On the side of the Opal Coast

Direction the Fire Boat in Dunkirkfor which the author Arno Bertina, has specially written a set entitled: “An angel, a demon and some clowns”, an adaptation of his novel “Shocks, buttocks and prostheses”, to be published by Editions Verticales in August 2025. These texts will give rise to eleven readings by four actors across different locations in the city and the territory of Flanders. In media libraries, at the LAAC, at the Quartier de l'Alliance house, for the general public, but also for those who are unable to attend.

In Boulogne-sur-Mer, you will be able to discover the life and work of Colette during a conference given Saturday January 25 at 3:30 p.m. at the Bibliothèque des Annonciades, in partnership with the Monsigny theater.

Built on the site of a medieval inn, the former Annonciades convent, located near the Porte des Dunes, is one of the last testimonies of religious institutions under the Ancien Régime in Boulogne. After a turbulent history, this complex has been completely restored and has housed the Annonciades municipal library since 1975, the site where the heritage collections of the Quadrant (Boulogne-sur-Mer library network) are kept.

In the evening, a guided tour of the premises will be offered to explore the history and architecture of the Annonciades.

By registration on 03 21 87 73 21 18

place de la Résistance 62200 Boulogne-sur-Mer

www.lequadrant.boulogne-sur-mer.fr

On the Artois side

The Saint-Vaast cultural center in Arras welcomes Saturday January 25 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. the company Cendres la Rouge for its show The farandole of hollow dreams.

A theatrical performance with variable geometry which fits into the public space and takes over it like a playground. For this she imagined a whole string of characters appearing on a street corner, under a bus shelters, in a park, in a market or in the middle of a schoolyard. Who are these characters? Mostly hybrid beings, half-human/half-animal or half-man/half-skeleton; phantasmagorical beings, sometimes clownish, often poetic. They appear where we least expect them, surprising the public with their strangeness. Although they keep a distance, they are also very curious about the human beings they encounter. Each intrigues the other. A meeting is created.

Still in Arras, the Nohée Senior Residence welcomes Thursday January 23 at 6 p.m. the actor Lorànt Deutsch. The presenter, actor and writer, specialist in popularizing French history, will be interested au architectural heritage of Arras and the former military barracks, rehabilitated into a senior residence by the company specializing in the sector: History & Heritage.

By registration on 03 21 15 57 00 27

rue du Général Schramm 62000 Arras

www.nohee.fr

On the Audomarois side

The urban library of the country of St Omer welcomes Friday January 25, the graphic designer “Penseur Etoile”, well known in the world of funny photo diversion, and author of the Dictionnaire Alterna'tif and the Gloss'hair Revendica'tif.

It will introduce image diversion from the Library's rich heritage image collections.

The library will also honor heritage, by revealing to the public ancient embroidery techniques during a workshop held by the artisan from Brodeuse Bazar, Friday January 24, at 6 p.m.

40 rue Gambetta 62500 Saint-Omer

www.bibliotheque-agglo-stomer.fr

In Raismes, the Louis Aragon media library welcomes Friday January 24 at 6:30 p.m., the storyteller Raphaël Rémiatte for a recounted story of the history of the town of Raismes, from yesterday to today.

By registration on 03 27 14 94 23

165 rue Léopold Dussart 59590 Raismes

www.mediatheque.ville-raismes.fr

In Valenciennes, the Hauts-de-France Polytechnic University is offering an evening dedicated to reading on Friday January 24 at 7 p.m., in the Tertiales University Library.

Author Johan Grzelczyk will lead volunteers in a reading from his collection of poems “C’est tout comme”, published by Ni Fait Ni À Faire. A beautiful exercise in polyphonic reading from voice to voice.

By registration: Caserne Ronzier boulevard Harpignies 59313 Valenciennes

In libraries, in bookstores, but also in schools, theaters, museums, cultural and artistic places, associative and solidarity spaces, prison structures, French Institutes, and, of course, heritage sites, with more of 500 events in the region, this major back-to-school cultural event will once again be an opportunity this year to reaffirm the essential place of books and reading for everyone.