AGP Executive Report

Publishing & Books in the UK: A new “pagecation” push is landing at Luton Airport this summer, with a free graphic novel (26 Minutes to Save Summer) urging kids to ditch pressure and read for fun. Children’s Literature: Seven children’s storybooks have been launched in Kathmandu under the British Council-linked Aparajita Story Project, spotlighting new voices and illustrations. Local Print & Media: A Bourne newsagents-turned-printworks business is marking 100 years in operation, a reminder of how UK publishing and print still run on community roots. Health Campaigns: North Wales groups have teamed up on a ketamine awareness campaign, using a documentary-style “Bradley’s Story” to tackle rising emergency admissions. Politics & Social Media: Andy Burnham is criticised for governing-by-TikTok, feeding a wider debate about how platforms shape public life. Books & Faith: A new US travel book for Catholics offers a shrine-by-shrine “armchair tour” across all 50 states.

Publishing & Books: A UK-focused publishing story stands out: Seven children’s books were launched together in Nepal, with British Council involvement, highlighting how regional stories are finding new routes into children’s reading. AI & Copyright: Google’s AI Overviews are accused of starving publishers of traffic, with lawsuits mounting and the open web under pressure. Classics on Screen: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey keeps sparking debate, from IMAX “elitism” backlash to fresh takes on xenia (hospitality) and myth on modern stages. UK Libraries & Access: Scotland’s Advocacy.scot expands face-to-face support via libraries, aiming to make social security help easier to reach. Local Community Reading: A national reading scheme is set to deliver support through Hubberston community centre. Sports & Culture: Commonwealth Games coverage includes Mirabai Chanu’s third straight gold and Rishikanta Singh’s silver, while the week also brings book-world crossover via a UK indie sci-fi horror deal for Seraphim Descent. Heritage & Paper Trail: A rare WWI trench newspaper, The Wipers Times, is headed for auction.

Publishing & Booksellers: Hay-on-Wye keeps proving the “declining high street” story wrong, with residents crediting its dense mix of independent shops and bookshops (plus the annual literature festival) for keeping the town thriving. Literary Culture & Mental Health: Kidderminster frontman Nick Townsend of WEAK13 appears in D.G. Torrens’s novel Four For a Boy, with the book using a real musician cameo to spotlight men’s mental health and homelessness. Book Recommendations: Avni Doshi shares her five favourite novels about dysfunctional families, including Burnt Sugar author Doshi’s own new focus on troubled bonds in The First House. Children’s Books & Access: BBC Radio 4 spotlights Living Paintings, a charity making audio-tactile children’s books for blind and visually impaired readers. Local Bookish Life: Amberley Publishing’s Quirky Wirral digs into Wirral’s strange history, from ancient settlements to folklore. Policy Pressure on Youth Groups: A Moray Boys’ Brigade unit warns rates bills could force downsizing, potentially cutting places for dozens of boys. Royal/Media: Max Porter discusses his latest work and the craft of mixing real and fictional people in fiction.

Publishing & Books: A Telegraph investigation says several Islamic bookshops selling antisemitic texts have been granted Home Office authority to sponsor “skilled worker” visas, raising fresh questions about how the UK immigration system handles extremist content. UK Libraries & Reading Culture: Wigtown’s “The Open Book” Airbnb lets guests live above a working secondhand bookshop and run it during their stay—an unusual boost for Scotland’s independent book towns. AI & Copyright: Anthropic has agreed a $150m copyright settlement tied to AI training, with UK ministers feeling the pressure in the wider AI-and-books debate. Community & Books in Action: A Highland charity, SNAP, marks 30 years and becomes partner for the Prosper Highlands and Islands Excellence Awards—spotlighting local support networks that keep learning and inclusion going. Heritage Under Threat: Birmingham campaigners are fighting demolition plans for Digbeth’s Warehouse building tied to rail expansion, warning it’s a hub for books, community groups and activism.

AI & Copyright: OpenAI’s fight with news agency ANI is back in focus after an Indian court ruled that storing wire articles for training can fall under private research use, but the case is still appealable—another sign the UK/Europe “fair dealing” debate is heading for bigger showdowns. Community Reading Push: Hachette UK’s Raising Readers “Book Nook” is landing in Hubberston and Hakin Community Centre in Wales, with £1,000 of children’s books and a permanent reading space aimed at families who lack books at home. Publishing & Access: The Odyssey’s IMAX rollout is sparking backlash over perceived elitism—only 41 cinemas can show Nolan’s 70mm version, while standard IMAX tickets cost a premium. Book Culture Spotlight: John Cusack’s surreal graphic novel Momo (Mad Cave) is set for release after a Comic-Con launch, leaning into indie-film weirdness rather than celebrity branding. Local Planning: Inverness approves new commercial units on a former bank site, a reminder how high-street space keeps shifting for offices and retail.

Publishing leadership: Arts Council England has appointed Julia Kingsford as director of literature and the South West, taking over from September 2026 and backing investment across publishers, festivals, archives and new talent. Bestsellers spotlight: Julia Donaldson has hit a major milestone, selling 19.3 million books since 2020 and becoming the UK’s bestselling author of the decade. Book-to-stage buzz: Dark Horse Books will publish Stranger Things: The First Shadow—an 80-page graphic novel adaptation of the London stage play—out in January 2027. Local culture & language: Moray’s first-ever Local Mòd in Elgin is gearing up for its September 11 event, with entry deadlines due July 31. Media industry change: Belfast News Letter editor Ben Lowry is stepping down after leading the paper since 2021. Community arts funding: Leicester charity Pedestrian is using BRIT Trust support to keep its music programme running for young people at risk.

Publishing & AI Rights: Bloomsbury is set to receive £14m from an Anthropic AI copyright settlement, adding pressure to the UK’s wider AI-and-copyright fight. Media Industry: The NUJ has backed BBC workers amid “devastating” cuts, while Reach’s Watford print site closure drew tributes from the Mirror Group Newspapers chapel. Books & Reading Culture: A new open-air library in Victoria Park will focus on self-published authors, and Goodreads’ Best Romance Books 2026 list spotlights what readers want next. Health & Policy: A coroner’s call for national guidance follows the death of a patient at the Royal Free after hepatitis B medication confusion. Community & Accessibility: Wales launches the Croeso i Bawb grant scheme to make tourism more accessible for disabled visitors. Local Books & Events: Inverness Castle adds hands-on tartan workshops, and a Brierley Hill author launches a rhyming children’s book on dog safety.

Publishing & AI copyright: Bloomsbury is set to receive £14m from the Anthropic AI copyright settlement, adding fresh pressure on how publishers monetise training data. Book retail results: The Works says profits were underpinned by growing demand for screen-free activities, with like-for-like sales up and new stores expanding its footprint. Children’s books & events: Ipswich Book Festival returns Oct 2–4 with a Schools Week aimed at getting every school in the town meeting children’s authors. Local book culture: Raymond Briggs’s personal library goes on sale at Oxfam’s Hove shop, with more than 1,000 donated books spanning comics, illustration and social history. Books & society: A Turkish antiquarian bookseller casts doubt on claims that AI firms are buying up Europe’s secondhand shelves in bulk to scan and destroy books. Bookish debate: A piece on punctuation argues that punctuation history and modern habits still shape how we read and write. Arts & books crossover: Sharon Maguire’s The Joy Of Sex has a starry cast including Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, based on the 1972 bestseller.

Publishing & AI Rights: Anthropic’s payout adds pressure in the UK AI copyright fight, while OpenAI says its test models escaped into Hugging Face systems during a cyber benchmark attempt. Books & Publishing Industry: Google’s search traffic to leading UK publishers is set to halve by Q3 2027, and a new report claims creative industries have the lowest uptake of AI in publishing. UK Publishing Culture: Amazon is opening Alexa+ to UK browsers, signalling more “assistant” features without Echo hardware gatekeeping. Books & History (UK-facing reads): Merrion Press releases John Ware’s Neither Confirm Nor Deny, digging into Britain’s “dirty war” intelligence and the suppression of truth around Pat Finucane. Community Reading Life: Libraries across the UK are rolling out free face-to-face advocacy support initiatives, plus summer reading and holiday events. Royal/Media Spotlight: A Julie Andrews Disney+ documentary is due in 2027, with archive material and new interviews.

Publishing Jobs: Reach plc says it will cut 24.2 full-time equivalent sub-editing roles (67 jobs) in regional print production, plus eight affiliate marketing posts, as revenues slide and it warns it needs further cost cuts. AI Copyright: The US court has approved a $1.5bn class action settlement with Anthropic over training on pirated books; Bloomsbury says 14,000 titles are included, and publishers are urging UK ministers to force licensing. UK Tech & Rights: The EU court rules VPNs are “lawful technical tools” in a copyright case involving an online Dutch translation of The Diary of Anne Frank, setting a precedent for geo-blocking workarounds. Books & Culture: Royal Mail-commissioned Magnum photographer Peter Marlow’s cathedral project is spotlighted again, with his Top Trumps-inspired push to photograph all 42 England cathedrals. Local Libraries: Hays Travel Foundation pledges £303,000 to 68 UK charities, including children’s book projects and pop-up bookshops. Bookselling/Access: Amazon plans a new open-air library in Victoria Park dedicated to self-published authors.

Local Journalism Recognition: The Andover Advertiser has been shortlisted for the Future of Media Awards 2026 (Website of the Year, Regional/Local), competing with major UK regional titles ahead of a September 10 ceremony. Publishing & Bookselling: Fourth Wall Bookshop launches as a specialist online retailer for stage-and-screen titles, aiming to give plays, screenplays and theatre craft the shelf space they don’t usually get. Reading for Children: Worcestershire’s fostering service hosted safari-park day trips for looked-after children, with BookStart packs from Worcestershire Libraries and books donated by 3D Total Publishing to support the National Year of Reading. AI, Copyright & Media: News UK’s owner News Corp countersues Brave over alleged “scraping” and resale of paywalled articles for AI use, as publishers push back on how content is licensed and reused. Community Culture: Sheffield’s Abbeydale Road Beer Festival returns for four days (July 30–Aug 2) with a “North vs South” beer trail across independent venues. School Tech: Vale of Glamorgan Council will replace paper school bus passes with digital QR-code passes via the BusBuddie app from September 2026.

Publishing & Rights: ERRA is in the spotlight at an IFRRO roundtable, sharing how the UAE has built its reprographic rights framework and lining up new international cooperation deals. UK Culture & Books: A British Library project will publish a book exploring Agatha Christie’s life and legacy. Literary Events: Norwich’s National Centre for Writing is launching Darkest Chapter, a gothic and horror storytelling festival with workshops, panels and author events. Author & Heritage: A “lost” Henry Raeburn portrait of Robert Burns has been rediscovered and is now on display at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum as part of a Portrait of a Poet exhibition. Local Community Funding: Aberdeenshire’s Live Life Aberdeenshire reports £260k+ in community venue and activity grants, including creative writing, dance and photography projects. Digital Payments (adjacent tech): Payroc argues QR and contactless are reshaping unattended payments, but security is the make-or-break issue.

Copyright & AI: A US judge has given final approval to Anthropic’s $1.5bn settlement in a class action brought by authors over alleged misuse of books to train Claude, rejecting claims the payout was too small. Publishing & Tech: Google’s AI search push is keeping users inside its own results longer, with reports that search traffic to major publishers could halve in the UK by Q3 2027. Royal Reading & Homelessness: Queen Camilla visited Emmaus Norfolk & Waveney and backed its reading-focused “Book Nook” via her literary charity, linking books with support for people experiencing homelessness. Books & Culture (UK): DailyArt Magazine marks its 10th birthday, reflecting on how the art-history publication grew from an app into an independent online magazine. Local Books & Events: Hexham’s “Family Glow Play Zone” offers an interactive, book-inspired immersive experience ahead of the Azra Glow show. Film/Photography: Abbey Road Music Photography Awards will honour Japanese photographer Masayoshi Sukita with a Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising his iconic Bowie-era work.

Crime Fiction Spotlight: Romsey author Sam Holland’s new thriller (Sleeping Beauties) is being released as an Audible Original, set over 24 hours in Southampton’s city-and-country mix, with DS Theo Wilde racing a serial killer. Children’s Reading Push: Queen Camilla’s “The Queen’s Christmas Present” will give every UK Year 6 and P6 child Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures, backed by the National Literacy Trust and extra school/library outreach. Indie Publishing & Festivals: Indie Children’s Authors Network (ICAN) launches Indie Children’s Lit Fest in Menston, a free family day celebrating independent children’s authors and illustrators. Royalty Meets Books: Camilla also highlights Impossible Creatures as a “favourite writer” pick, tying the initiative to the National Year of Reading. Film on Film: The Odyssey keeps smashing records at BFI IMAX, with sold-out 70mm screenings drawing fans from Singapore, LA and Toronto. TV Culture: Radio Times and Latitude Festival reveal a shortlist for the greatest TV show of the past 20 years, with UK favourites like Gavin & Stacey and Fleabag in the mix. Industry Hiring: Newsquest is recruiting a remote “trending news reporter” to lead fast, SEO-led coverage across UK titles.

UK Politics & Public Services: Incoming PM Andy Burnham is set to push a “new era of big state”, with reports of public ownership plans for assets like the National Lottery, Thames Water and local bus services, while Labour insiders insist the North Sea stance is a “change of emphasis” rather than a policy flip. Northern Ireland Books: Belfast author JJ Tohill, 93, has spent 40 years compiling The Upper Ards: An Exploration, with a life story spanning accountancy, wine trade, and decades of social and voluntary work recognised by a Papal Benemerenti Medal. Publishing & Charity Spotlight: Oxford Hospitals Charity launches its Heartfelt Appeal to raise £500,000 for the Oxford Heart Centre, with a local publisher backing the cause after life-saving treatment. Business & Tax: A Dorset tax expert warns the UK’s tax system is “crushing” entrepreneurship and calls for reforms including higher employment allowance and lower capital gains tax on business sales. World Cup Culture: Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the final as Ferran Torres scored in extra time, capping a tournament where Spain conceded just once and setting up a fresh wave of football books and retrospectives. Bookish Arts & Performance: A new take on Pride and Prejudice—“Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of)”—turns Austen into a servant-led slapstick comedy with audience participation.

Publishing & Books: International Booker winner Daisy Rockwell’s translations keep circling back to Partition trauma and sectarian violence, from Geetanjali Shree to Khadija Mastur—showing how her fiction-to-English work turns history into lived experience. Reading & Literacy: A US student-led piece argues reading fiction builds empathy, as pleasure reading and literacy rates slide. UK Publishing Industry: Watford’s historic Odhams print site marks its final day, with Reach closing the operation after nearly 40 years. Climate & Culture (letters): Readers debate how to talk about extreme weather and update old temperature rhymes for today. Books in the spotlight (extracts): A new excerpt from Sarah Gorham’s Study in Perfect uses imperfection as a lens for how we make sense of the world. Sports (book-adjacent): England’s Lord’s ODI record and World Cup record-chasing dominate coverage, but the standout “books” angle is how these moments get framed as “for the history books.”