Adaptations of plays such as "Twelfth Night" and books such as "The English Patient" will be shown to young people as part of a project examining the relationship between literature and cinema.

Rather than seeing the moving image as an obstacle to children reading, the organisers of the literacy campaign want to use the cinema screenings as a way of stimulating an interest in books.

The season of free films is intended to encourage an interest in reading

"Many successful adaptations encourage new readers to turn to the original novel and encourage reading of other books by the same author," said Liz Attenborough, project director of the National Year of Reading, introducing the 'Screen Reads' series.

Film Education, the organisation that will provide the free screenings in January and February, says that the number of films that begin as books or plays is evidence of the strong connection between the written word and film.

As examples, the media education charity says there are a number of books currently being adapted into films, including "Dead Babies" by Martin Amis, "The Spire" by William Golding and "The Golden Bowl" by Henry James.

The National Year of Reading, which began last September, is seeking to promote interest in all kinds of reading and writing, in support of the government's National Literacy Strategy.