'Silver Scribblers' web campaign launched

Older people - nicknamed 'silver scribblers' - are being encouraged to join book clubs and write their own novels as part of an online campaign launched Tuesday.

The Bookbite project is funded by the government and is being run by reading charity Booktrust.

Former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion and writer Marina Lewycka - who was 59 when her first novel was nominated for the Orange Prize - are supporting the campaign, which will offer advice and competitions to older people.

The campaign follows a Bookbite survey, which looked at the reading and internet habits of the over-60s.

More than 30 per cent said they were keen to go online to publish short stories or join book clubs.

Publisher HarperCollins has found that a "very high number" of aspiring writers over 50 are contacting its Authonomy website, a new community site for writers, readers and publishers.

Sir Andrew Motion said: "To encourage the over-60s to discover and develop their interest in creative reading and writing reminds us that the life of the imagination offers its rewards at all times of life."