Lockdown Reading: The Experience of Reading During Covid-19 Lockdowns
The research project Lockdown Reading investigates the impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns on the experiences of reading and the uses of literature in a Danish and an English context. The project is concerned with the interrelated questions of gendered reading habits, the novel’s role in achieving a work-life balance, and reading as a practice of community formation.
Our research is based on interviews with readers, reading groups and key actors in literary institutions about their experience of reading during lockdown. What happened to readers’ practices and preferences as the time available for reading changed and their activities were confined to the private space? Did the increase in online events and digital reading options pave the way for new uses of literature and new reading communities? Did any existing trends or practices within contemporary literary culture intensify in this exceptional situation? Did new opportunities emerge? The collection and analyses of empirical data will be supplemented with readings of literary works, combining the sociological study of reading as event or behaviour with a careful attention to the actual texts in question.
Participate in our Danish survey
How did you read during the lockdown? We are keen to know more about your experience. Contribute to our investigation of reading and uses of literature in a time of crisis. We greatly appreciate your help!
STAY HOME, interdisciplinary research project investigating the home during the Covid-19 lockdowns from the perspectives of architecture, family history, technology and theology.
Morten Mikkelsen: ‘Danskerne læser mere. Og særligt én genre vinder frem’ , Kristeligt Dagblad 1.12.2021.
P4 Midt og Vest. Johanne Gormsen Schmidt presents Lockdown Reading’s research results in the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. 12.10.2021.
Patrick Søgaard: "Forsker: Sommerferien skabte mig som læser". Lyngby Bibliotekerne, 23.7.2021.
Lotte Kirkeby: ”Klassikere har fået en opblomstring. Her er forslag til ferielæsningen”, Kristeligt Dagblad, 17.6.2021
Joachim Talbro Paulsen: ”Coronakrisen blev endelig øjeblikket, hvor danskerne fik læst ældre klassikere”. Berlingske Tidende 9.6.2021.
P1 Morgen. Johanne Gormsen Schmidt presents Lockdown Reading’s research results in DR, Denmark’s Radio. 8.6.2021.
Pernille Munch Toldam: ”Covid-19 har ændret danskernes læsevaner”. Bogmarkedet 8.6.2021.
Matilda Lyager Hanscomb: ”Nyt forskningsprojekt: Coronapandemien har ændret danskernes læsevaner markant”, Kristeligt Dagblad 8.6.2021
Caroline Vorsholt Danielsen: ”Stort litterært forskningsprojekt afslører, at coronanedlukningen har ændret danskernes læsevaner markant”. Kulturmoniter 7.6.2021.
Birgitte Kjær: ”Læsere har søgt tilflugt i bøger under coronanedlukningen”. Politiken 6.6.2021.
Morten Mikkelsen: ”Vi har vist bogreolen frem i mere end 300 år. Men antallet af fysiske bøger toppede i 1960’erne”, Kristeligt Dagblad, 25.2.2022
Bine Madsen: “Coronaåret har lært os at finde trøst og håb i bøgerne”. Nordvestnyt, Dagbladet Køge, Dagbladet Roskilde, Dagbladet Ringsted (20.2.2021); Midtjyllands Avis (21.2.2021); Herning Folkeblad (24.2.2021); Fredericia Dagblad, Randers Amtsavis, Dagbladet Ringkøbing-Skjern, Lemvig Folkeblad, Viborg Folkeblad, Vejle Amts Folkeblad, Horsens Folkeblad, Fyens Stiftstidende (5.4.2021); Helsingør Dagblad, Avisen Danmark, Fyns Amts Avis (6.4.2021)
Pernille Siegumfeldt: “Lock-down Reading: Læselysten er vokset markant under corona,” Akademikerbladet, 11.2.2021.
“Camilla picks final instalment of Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy for book club,” Belfast Telegraph 14.1.2021; Jersey Evening Post, Mail Online, TalkTalk For Everyone, This is Money 15.1.2021.
Rhiannon Mills: “Duchess of Cornwall launches Reading Room book club on Instagram,” Sky News, 15.1.2021.
“Camilla shares her good reads online,” The Times Ireland, 15.1.2021, p. 13.
Valentine Low: “Reading Room project: Duchess of Cornwall reveals choices for online book club,” The Times, 15.1.2021.
Our research partner at University of Portsmouth, Ben Davies, was interviewet about Lockdown Reading on BBC Radio Solent, 11.11.2020.
Nanna Damsgaard-Larsen: “Forsker: Sådan læser vi under corona,” Herlev Library’s webpage and Sorø Library’s webpage, 10.11.2020.
4 November 2020
Paper: “Women at Work: Reading and Writing During the Danish Lockdown”
Conference: Bookshelves in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 3-4 November 2020
Organized by The Open University and supported by SHARP (The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing)
Christina Lupton and Johanne Gormsen Schmidt
20 January 2021
Paper: “Classics in a Time of Crisis: Reading Jane Austen Under COVID-10 Lockdowns” Conference: Aesthetic Relations, 20-22 January 2021
Organized by the research centre Art as Forum, University of Copenhagen
Amanda Grimsbo Roswall and Johanne Gormsen Schmidt
3 March 2021
Presentation of the research project in the Centre for Uses of Literature, University of Southern Denmark
Ben Davies, Amanda Grimsbo Roswall and Johanne Gormsen Schmidt
20 April 2021
Paper: “Plague Fiction: Reading About Pandemics During COVID-19”
Conference: Pandemic Perspectives 2021: Reflectinos of the Post-Covid World, 20th April 2021
Organized by Midlands4Cities doctoral training partnership
Amanda Grimsbo Roswall
21 April 2021
Presentation of the research project under the headline: “Novel Reading During the COVID-19 Pandemic”
University of Portsmouth Webinar, Portsmouth University
Ben Davies, Christina Lupton and Johanne Gormsen Schmidt
30 April 2021
Paper: “Caring for Our Discipline During Covid”
Conference: English: Shared Futures
Organized by The English Association and University English and supported by the National Association of Writers in Education with Institute of English Studies and National Association for the Teaching of English
Ben Davies and Christina Lupton
20 May 2021
Paper: “Readerly Attention in a Time of Crisis: Novel Reading During the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Panel: Attending to Attention
Conference: International Conference on Narrative, 19.-23. maj 2021
Organized by The International Society for the Study of Narrative
Ben Davies and Christina Lupton
23 June 2021
”To read or not to read? That is the question.” Tina Jane Lupton in conversation with Lars Münster. Moderator: Knud Brix. Event: TALETID, a series of debate events organized by the central library of Copenhagen.
2 September 2021
Paper: “Reading Summer in Summer 2020”.
Conference: The British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies (BACLS) “What Happens Now 2021”, September 2-3, 2021.
Ben Davies.
23 September 2021
Invited talk. Presentation of the research project Lockdown Reading for Forbundet Kultur og Information, Fredericia Bibliotek, September 23, 2021.
Johanne Gormsen Schmidt.
27 September 2021
Invited talk. “Corona Time: Reading Fiction During the Covid-19 Pandemic”
Forum: The 2021-2022 Workshop in the History of Material Texts, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Organized by University of Pennsylvania.
Ben Davies and Christina Lupton.
3 November 2021
Paper: “Reading About Race”
Conference: Uses of Literature Final Conference, November 3-5, 2021.
Organiseret af Danmarks Grundforskningsfonds Niels Bohr Professorship ”Uses of Literature. The Social Dimensions of Literature”
Ben Davies and Christina Lupton.
4 November 2021
Paper: “Reading About Time in Confinement.”
Conference: Uses of Literature Final Conference, November 3-5, 2021.
Organiseret af Danmarks Grundforskningsfonds Niels Bohr Professorship ”Uses of Literature. The Social Dimensions of Literature”
Johanne Gormsen Schmidt.
4 November 2021
Paper: “Pandemic Fast Print”
Conference: Uses of Literature Final Conference, November 3-5, 2021.
Organized by the Danish National Research Foundation’s Niels Bohr Professorship “Uses of Literature. The Social Dimensions of Literature”
Amanda Grimsbo Roswall.
12 November 2021
Invited talk. Presentation of the research project Lockdown Reading, Aalborg Bibliotek, November 12, 2021.
Johanne Gormsen Schmidt.
8 January 2022
Panel: ‘Just in Time: Lockdown Reading: The Uses of Books in the Pandemic’
Conference: MLA 2022 Convention 6-9 January 2022
Christina Lupton (organizer)
8 January 2022
Paper: ‘Reading about Race in the Pandemic’
Conference: MLA 2022 Convention 6-9 January 2022
Ben Davies
8 January 2022
Paper: ‘Outdoor Reading’
Conference: MLA 2022 Convention 6-9 January 2022
Johanne Gormsen Schmidt
27 January 2022
Invited talk for National Library of Mexico
Christina Lupton and Ben Davies
24 March 2022
Invited talk at Lund University
Johanne Gormsen Schmidt
11-13 May 2022
Paper: ”Reading Novels During Covid-19”
Conference: NAES2022. “Time in English, English in Time”
Organized by The Nordic Association of English Studies
Ben Davies
20 May 2022
Seminar: ’The Future of Reading in Scandinavia’
University of Copenhagen
Amanda Grimsbo Roswall and Johanne Gormsen Schmidt (organizers)
1 June 2022
Invited talk on the research project Lockdown Reading in Copenhagen for Tænketanken Fremtidens Biblioteker, Danmarks Biblioteksforening
Christina Lupton og Johanne Gormsen Schmidt
13-14 June 2022
Conference: ‘Nye perspektiver på litteratursociologi i Skandinavien’
Aarhus University
Johanne Gormsen Schmidt (organizer)
28-30 June 2022
Paper: 'Real Readers'
Conference: The International Conference on Narrative, University of Chichester, Chichester
Ben Davies.
Researchers
Internal
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amanda Grimsbo Roswall | PhD Fellow | +4535325818 | |
| Tina Jane Lupton | Professor | +4593509415 |
Funding
The project is supported by the Carlsberg Foundation
Lockdown Reading's site at Carlsberg Foundation
The project runs from September 2020 to August 2022.
Contact
PI:
Christina Lupton
Professor
Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies
University of Copenhagen
The Future of Reading
External
Ben Davies, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Portsmouth, UK.