Margaret Atwood and Lee Child are auctioning their character names for charity
Raising money for the Freedom from Torture charity
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Your support makes all the difference.Have you ever wanted your name immortalised in print? Now’s your chance, as Margaret Atwood, Lee Child and Julian Barnes are offering fans the chance to name a character in their latest books as part of a charity auction.
Kamila, Marian Keyes and Joanna Trollope are among the other authors raising money for Freedom from Torture, a charity which offers support to survivors of torture.
“In my novels, I often write about a world that is without liberty and human rights,” The Guardian reports Atwood as saying. ”This fiction is a cruel reality for the torture survivors who are supported by Freedom from Torture.
“This year’s auction is a timely reminder that, while the world is an increasingly scary place, our voices are powerful, and we still have the freedom to use them.”
Jack Reacher author Child said of the chosen charity: “Torture victims are the most damaged and demoralised people among us, so any move to embrace, console and help them is to be applauded and supported.”
The author added that the winning bidder would name a character set to appear alongside Child’s fictional maverick – played by Tom Cruise on the big screen – in the upcoming novel Blue Moon, due out next year.
The charity, which takes place on the 15 November under the name Freedom: Not Just Another Word, will also auction off a signed screenplay donated by Dame Helen Mirren. There’s also the chance to commission a work by Sir Quentin Blake and to have a portrait done by former children’s laureate Chris Riddell.
Opening bids for character names are placed at £150 and £250 but are expected to exceed these amounts by some way. Last year, the highest bid was £2,500 to name a character in Ian McEwan’s next book.
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