Anthem 2013 - Articles Page 1.8

ANTHEM is the story of a young man, EQUALITY 7-2521, who is born into a future world that has banished all individuality. Not satisfied with a world lighted by candles, EQUALITY fosters his love of discovery in an abandoned subway, a relic of the past. In solitude, EQUALITY rediscovers electricity and a new source of light. Above ground he meets and falls in love with LIBERTY 5-3000, committing a further 'sin of preference.'

Originally conceived as a play while Rand was a Soviet university student, the novel ANTHEM was written in the U.S in the summer of 1937, during a break Rand took from the writing of her novel The Fountainhead. ANTHEM was published in England in 1938. Since its full American publication in 1961, the work has sold more than 5 million copies.

As reported in 2010, ANTHEM was the most popular adult novel checked out of the New York Public Library system. The novel remains a favorite among youth and is the subject of the most popular high school essay contest in the world, with more than 19,000 entries annually.

Originally produced by Austin Shakespeare in 2011, ANTHEM's Off-Broadway staging coincides with the celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the novel's publication.