09.11.12 | Joshua Farrington - The Bookseller

An erotic publisher will be encouraging library users to embrace raunchy reads with a month-long celebration of erotic titles.

More than 30 library services across the UK are taking part in Between the Sheets, with Xcite Books helping them to host erotic reading reading nights and helping guide readers to a range of suitable material.

The event will kick off next Thursday, when Xcite m.d. Hazel Cushion will join author Tony Sands at Swansea Central Library to give readings from Between the Sheets titles.
Cushion said: "Fifty Shades of Grey may have thrust erotic fiction from the top shelf and onto supermarket shelves and got everyone talking about it in the process, but there’s nothing new about erotic fiction: Sappho was penning erotic verse in the 6th century BC. What’s driving this apparent recent surge in interest is the ability for readers to access erotic fiction discreetly on their tablet computers and e-readers. Quite simply, the development in this technology has made the genre more accessible and more appealing to more people."
She added: "For many though Fifty Shades is the only book they’ve ever read; for others it’s the first book they’ve read in years and that’s because erotic fiction is entertaining, exciting and easy to read. Anything that gets people reading has got to be a good thing so for that reason alone it’s good to see libraries like Swansea Central Library celebrating this genre and showing readers there’s more erotic fiction to read than just Fifty Shades of Grey."

Libraries from Edinburgh to Cornwall will be promoting a range of 30 titles, from classics like John Cleland's Fanny Hill to Nikki Gemmell’s The Bride Stripped Bare (Fourth Estate).
The event is organised with Stellar Libraries and runs until 16th December.