York's Big City Read is one of several exciting forthcoming events being promoted by Read Write York in its June newsletter.

The idea is to encourage as many people as possible across York to read E. Nesbit's classic story, The Railway Children, to mark the fact that 2008 is the National Year of Reading.

City of York Council libraries will be giving away 2,000 copies of the book and many of these will be distributed at a launch event taking place on Friday 27 June in St Sampson's Square, York.

The council is working in partnership with City Screen, York Theatre Royal and the National Railway Museum to organise a host of Railway Children-themed events to tie in with the Big City Read.

Other Read Write York events for June include the Speaker's Corner open mic poetry, storytelling and spoken word event at the Yorkshire Terrier on Stonegate on the evening of Wednesday 11 June; and a Late Music Festival event on Friday 13 June at the National Centre for Early Music at 1pm, which will see local composer Steve Crowther set five poems by well known York poet Don Walls to music.

As part of the 2008 York Youth Mystery plays being staged on Saturday 21 June, students from the University of York St John will perform in the Marriott Room at York Central Library throughout the day (12.30pm, 1.30pm; 2.30pm and 3.30pm).

To round the month's activities off, a taster session on 'how to write for children' will be held in the Marriott Room at York Central Library on Saturday 28 June 2008 between 10am and 12 noon.

For more information about these events or to arrange to receive future copies of the Read Write York newsletter, contact Anne Mortimer by emailing anne.mortimer@york.gov.uk or telephone 01904 554316.