Automats selling pocketbooks at Budapest’s junctions to be launched

According to Origo.hu, we’ll be able to buy contemporary and traditional pocketbooks from special automats starting with March 2018. The Sztalker Group aims to bring reading closer to the youth and people using the public transportation network.

The Sztalker Group wants to popularise contemporary and traditional literature in the form of sound quality but cheap pocketbooks the size of a smartphone. The primary target group of the initiation marked by actor Miklós Vecsei H. and writer Krisztián Grecsó is the youth and anyone using the public transportation network.

The project is called POKET and is supported by outstanding Hungarian artists, such as László Dés, Péter Geszti, Viktória Lábas, Péter Rudolf and Gábor Zacher. They are also the ambassadors of the initiation.

POKET serves as a remedy for the three typical problems of reading on the bus, metro or tram: shortage, size and price.

It’s quite common that people don’t read on their way to work, school because they don’t have books with them or the given book is too big to be read comfortably, while others find books to be too expensive. But the book automats placed at the most frequented junctions of the city will sell premium quality pocketbooks for 990 forints.

“We aim to bring valuable and interesting works closer to readers for affordable prices, in an easily accessible way. We’d like to fill the empty moments of travelling with great literary moments” said Miklós Vecsei H.

Krisztián Grecsó believes that POKET – as a cultural mission – could be able to create a more youthful and attentive reading community.

The project will be launched with at least six automats next March. This depends on how much money they’re able to collect for the funding of the project. For instance, Miklós Vecsei will offer the income from his new book of poems, Soliloquor, for the aim. This will be completed with crowdfunding and opportunity to “adopt titles”. They are looking for further supporters as they are very serious about their plan.

They will be present at summer festivals, where the English translations of Hungarian novels will also be introduced. The long-term goals include the expansion of the project to other vehicles and the countryside as well.

Source: http://www.origo.hu/