BEST selling crime writer Martina Cole went behind bars in Glasgow - but not to get tips for her latest novel.

The award-winning author, who has published 18 books and sold around 10 million worldwide, is spearheading a campaign to boost literacy and reawaken the nation's love of reading.

She is talking to inmates at Shotts Prison today, and was at Barlinnie yesterday, as part of The Reading Agency's Six Book Challenge.

It aims to encourage lapsed or less confident readers to commit to reading six texts, from short magazine pieces to novels, to help boost literacy and numeracy skills.

The challenge, now in its eighth year, has been taken up by the two prisons and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with nurses at Inverclyde's sterilising service joining a workplace book group.

Staff at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley have also joined up.

Martina, who is an ambassador for the challenge, said: "A lot of people haven't read since they were at school. It's about getting them back to reading for pleasure.

"A lot of the prisoners are very intelligent but they just haven't learned to read. It's very sad to see."

Martina believes passionately in improving literacy in prisons and said it could, literally, change lives.

She added: "If prisoners learn to read, that could give them confidence to apply for a job, for example.

"I always say, if you can't read your own name, you can't write it on an application form."

Around 50 prisoners at Barlinnie completed the Six Book Challenge this year and the prison was given a bronze award by the Reading Agency.

Martina said best-selling novels and autobiographies were popular with inmates and that many of the prisoners had read her books and talked to her about them.

She said: "They have strong, powerful women characters, who are popular. It's all about an escape from real life.

"It's nice for them to be able to meet the author who wrote the book they read."

Martina began visiting prisons when scenes from one of her earlier novels - The Jump - were being filmed at London's Wandsworth Prison.

She said: "It was in the early 90s and I was asked to give a talk to the prisoners.

"I think libraries are so important in prisons, what they are doing with creative classes. I got involved with them and it snowballed from there."

Genevieve Clarke, of the Six Book Challenge, said workplace schemes were ideal to encourage more people to start reading again.

She said: "They are quite inclusive, particularly in prisons.

"Prisons are absolutely key to the challenge. The prison libraries, together with education services, are making it happen. A large number of people in prison are completely turned off reading, or they have poor literacy skills, so this is a way of trying to support them. They can start with anything, it can be a really short story, just to get them engaged and motivated.

"Martina left school at 15 with no qualifications. She's living proof that, if she can do it, anyone can."

More than 40,000 people have completed the Six Book Challenge, including 156 staff at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, who were yesterday given a gold award by the Reading Agency.

See www.sixbookchallenge.org.uk for more information

victoria.brenan@ eveningtimes.co.uk