The Uses of Literacy is a collaboration between the artist Jeremy Deller and fans of the Welsh rock group, Manic Street Preachers. Soliciting for contributions via advertisements in the music press, Jeremy Deller has collected drawings, paintings, poetry and prose from the young fans.

Manic Street Preachers have always emphasised the importance of art and literature to the band − using quotations on their record sleeves, merchandising and as part of their live shows - as an escape from the mundane. Referencing Richard Hoggart’s seminal study The Uses of Literacy, Jeremy Deller reveals the complex relationship between the audience and performer and the art and literature that unites a socially and geographically displaced group of individuals.

Originally published 1999. — From the publisher