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A novel by Pembrokeshire-born author Sarah Waters is one of 25 titles that will be handed out free of charge in a massive book giveaway as part of .

World Book Night will take place on Saturday 5 March 2011, two days after the annual nationwide reading campaign .

Key to the initiative is the idea that 20,000 members of the public will each hand out 48 copies of their favourite book (chosen from the selected list of 25 titles) in events across the UK and Ireland. A further 40,000 books will be distributed by the organisers to people who might not otherwise be able to participate.

Sarah Waters. Photo © Charlie Hopkinson

Sarah Waters' Fingersmith is one of the 25 books on the eclectic list that also features the Man Booker Prize-winning Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin, New Selected Poems by Seamus Heaney, Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front and Philip Pullman's Northern Lights.

You can now apply to be one of the book-givers of your favourite book on the list of 25 titles. As the World Book Night website puts it: "most givers are expected to be passionate readers who will take pleasure in recommending a book they love to other readers.

"However, World Book Night will also encourage givers to pass the books on to others who either may be reluctant readers or who are part of communities with less access to books, bookshops and libraries."

Find out more about this exciting initiative, and how you can apply to be one of the book-givers, on the . And read Â鶹Éç Arts Editor Will Gompertz's take on World Book Night.