Day 1: Reading to Live Well

Reading really does make you feel better, especially when it’s shared, and one of the main purposes of Day 1 was to explore this topic with a variety of professionals from public, private, and third sector organisations. Our Get Into Reading groups read aloud together in places ranging from care homes, GP surgeries, libraries, schools, community centres, in-patient mental healthcare settings, and prisons, improving wellbeing and providing stability, support, and a love of literature for their members. The day consisted of a mix of general plenary sessions complemented by breakout sessions focusing on a particular area of The Reader Organisation’s work.

Charlotte, Reader-in-Residence at Liverpool Hope University, highlights one of her top moments:

“‘The Consequences of Reading’, in which TRO Director Jane Davis spoke to Professor Jonathan Rose about his book ‘The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes; was without a doubt one of my favourite parts of the first day of the conference. It was brilliant to see Jane in such enthusiastic conversation with a person who is clearly a personal hero of hers, and whose book has meant so much to her. I thought it was really important that the session felt like a conversation, and was fairly informal, rather than a typical ‘lecture’ or formal Q&A session.

As an English graduate myself, I found it incredibly interesting hearing Jonathan speak about his views on the responsibility of the academic to address the over-theoretical approach to literature in education environments in modern times. He commented that, 50 years ago, English was one of the most popular subjects at university, but that in recent times there has been a significant ‘falling-off’, and that he saw the cause of this to be the de-personalisation of literature, and lack of focus on the role of the reader. I was very interested by Jonathan’s comment that he saw it as his duty to put ‘the reader first and foremost in literary history: they are the one who gives the book individuality and agency – ‘they make it do something.’

Towards the end of the conversation, Jane and Jonathan spoke about the fact that there is not much opportunity given to children in society now to listen to a story over a long period of time. ‘Story times’ in schools tend to focus more on short snatches of reading, in which the child is asked to look for specific things, and feed-back on afterwards. Jonathan commented that he saw it as incredibly important that we don’t necessarily ‘ask for something in return’ when we read to a child – that we should let the story wash over them, and sink-in over time.”

Our twitter hashtag for the Conference, #TRO2012, also prompted an enthusiastic response from the audience:

#TRO2012 if only every GP could see what Dr Iona Heath can see. (@TriciaCanning)

#TRO2012 Inspirational stuff yesterday & such enthusiastic staff, would love to see it rolled out in our organisation (@OT_LisaB)

#TRO2012 CRILS – Entertaining, informing and challenging – the best presentation by academics I have ever seen (@devonbiker)

The knowledge of the speakers and the passion displayed by everyone both on stage and off was truly inspirational. Exhausted, but elated, we geared up for Friday…

Day 2: Living to Read Well

This day was exclusively designed for people who had completed our Read to Lead training and are practising as Shared Reading Facilitators. Day 2 was therefore a combination of practical sessions on reading aloud and choosing material, problem solving and literary masterclasses. Equally valuable was the opportunity to meet and catch-up with other Shared Reading Facilitators from around the UK and beyond, providing encouragement and advice on this challenging but rewarding practice.

Credit Steve Wasserman, http://readmesomethingyoulove.com

Undoubtedly, the highlight of the day for many was Lemn Sissay in conversation with Jane Davis. An advocate for Looked After Children, young people with whom The Reader Organisation also works closely, he was by turns hilarious and heart-breaking, as Michael, our Events and Publications Intern, explains:

“There was a great deal of hype surrounding Lemn Sissay’s conversation with Jane.  An expectant audience had heard a lot about this

c.Helen Kielt

charismatic writer and, I have to say, he didn’t disappoint.  What could be added to Lemn’s already extensive list of job titles (including: poet, playwright, social commentator) is performer. His energy on stage kept us on the edge of our seats, whilst his anecdotes had us laughing and murmuring our agreement in equal amounts.

But what shone through most was Lemn’s passion for children and the effect great literature can have on their minds and their lives. ‘Books open up a free space inside a child’s imagination’, Lemn affirmed.  He listed a number of characters from literature who were orphaned at a young age or who grew up in care – Oliver Twist, Harry Potter, Bruce Wayne, Jane Eyre – and argued that it is these characters that should be utilised more effectively to demonstrate to us all just how significant looked-after children are, and the important part they play in our society.”

Twitter was buzzing in response, once again:

Fabulously moving and funny Lemn Sissay #TRO2012 (@HelenKielt)

#TRO2012 what a day! What a day! What a day! What a day! (@RachelNiblock)

train home from @thereaderorg#TRO2012 conference @britishlibrary – words not enough to voice my awe of the past two days. Amazing people.(@ajeastwood)

The impact the conference had on all of us here at The Reader Organisation itself was phenomenal  – we were intellectually stimulated, re-energised and inspired, and hope you were too. The Twitter hashtag is still live, so please continue to voice your thoughts online @thereaderorg.

There’ll be more on the blog in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, roll on 2013…

LIFT 2012 will also be playing host to the UK premiere of Gatz, a spellbinding and seductive word-for-word staging of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s modern classic The Great Gatsby.

One morning in the office of a mysterious small business, an employee finds a copy of The Great Gatsby in the clutter on his desk. He starts to read it aloud and doesn’t stop.

Termed ‘the most remarkable achievement in theatre not only of this year but also of this decade’ by The New York Times, Gatz is an eight-hour event performed by New York’s Elevator Repair Service, spread over four parts to take the audience from early afternoon into the evening (including a long dining interval). Imagine your favourite book coming to life before your very eyes, losing yourself in the words as they are read aloud…this is the exciting and engaging prospect that Gatz offers its audience.

Gatz will be taking LIFT 2012 into the West End for 23 performances only – if you’re a Fitzgerald aficiando, you don’t want to miss out.

Gatz runs from Friday 8th June-Sunday 15th July 2012 at the Noël Coward Theatre in London. All performances start at 2.30pm and finish by 10.30pm, with tickets costing between £27.50-£77.50. Tickets are available through the Gatz London website or by calling 0844 482 5141.

Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1; The Young Victoria) will be reading The New Dress by Virginia Woolf,  Sonya Cassidy (star of stage versions of The Lion in Winter and Inherit The Wind) will read an extract from I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and Mathew Horne (Gavin and Stacey) will be reading extracts from Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith.

Stories Before Bedtime, held by the Criterion and in partnership with Vintage Books and The Reader Organisation, is a series of special late-night readings celebrating and championing the love of reading, transporting the audience back to a time when being read to aloud before bed was a fundamental part of life.

Stories Before Bedtime: Summer Time
Friday 1st June 2012, 10.30pm
Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, London, W1V 9LB

Tickets cost £12.50 (£10 GIR member/concessions) and are available from the Criterion Box Office or online.

Written by award-winning playwright Caryl Churchill in 1976, the play is being revived by Liverpool Network Theatre after being approached by Frank Kennedy, organiser of the ‘Digging Up Our History’ course in Everton last year, who explains the play’s significance to the area: 

Although the play isn’t set in Liverpool, and does not directly depict the great battles of the Civil War, it shows how, during Cromwell’s uprising against King Charles I, the hopes of poor people were raised – and then dashed. WECC is just down the road from the hilltop campsite of Prince Rupert, who in 1644 captured the small port of Liverpool for the King, before the Parliamentarians won it back.

The Everton performance is part of the 2012 Out of the Blue Festival, a four month long programme of music performances, plays, exhibitions and sporting activities in and around Everton Park. Festival co-ordinator and local resident Adam Byrne will be starring in the play alongside Frank.

The play will then move to venues in the city centre over the weekend, with performances in The Casa on Friday 11th May and Next To Nowhere (beneath News From Nowhere) on Saturday 12th May (both performances at 8pm).

Tickets cost £6/£3 concessions and can be bought on the door of the venue or in advance from News From Nowhere on 0151 708 7270.

The event will be the last chance to catch Colm Tóibín  in Manchester at the ‘In Conversation’ events before he leaves to continue his professorship in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York, and will feature the reading of new work by both writers, as well as covering topics of current literary and cultural interest.

Paul Durcan is renowned as both an outspoken critic of his native country, and as a chronicler of its emergence from the repressions of the 1950s to the contradictions of the present day. In 2001 he received a Cholmondeley Award and was the Ireland Professor of Poetry 2004-2007. His latest collection of poetry – his 22nd to date – Praise in Which I Live and Move And Have my Being was published in April 2012 by Harvill Secker.

Colm Tóibín in Conversation with Paul Durcan
Tuesday 8th May 2012, 6.30pm
International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Engine House, Chorlton Mill, 3 Cambridge Street, Manchester M1 5BY

Admission is £10/£5 concessions. To book tickets, please visit the Quaytickets website.

Policy Provocations is a series of lectures, led by the University of Liverpool and City Region partners, which brings together perspectives from leading international, UK and local thinkers to provide a platform for passionate public debate on issues that affect us all.  Taking on big policy challenges that shape our future, Policy Provocations confronts them with informed and reasoned debate and asks how we can tackle such challenges in new ways.

The next Policy Provocations event asks the question ‘Do we still need libraries?’. Historically, libraries have helped bring literacy to the masses as well as providing a sense of community, improved health and promotion of wellbeing, but do they still serve the same purpose in a changing society?

The panel will include Sue Charteris, Chair of The Reader Organisation; Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England; Councillor Keith Mitchell CBE, Former Leader of Oxfordshire County Council; and, before his guest appearance at The Reader Organisation 2012 Conference, Professor Jonathan Rose. The lecture will be followed by an informal reception for all from 7pm.

Tickets to the event are free but booking is essential; to book your place, please visit the University of Liverpool website or call 0151 794 2650.

The event is for anybody passionate about transforming and regenerating their communities by taking over the ownership of local land and buildings. If you are already part of or are interested in being involved in managing a local community asset, work for a voluntary or social enterprise organisation or work for local authority, then the event is for you.

A range of key speakers on the subject of managing community assets will feature at the event – including Ed Mayo from Co-Operatives UK and Steve Wyler from Locality. Delegates will also get the chance to hear from people who are already successfully managing spaces in their local community, discovering the policy, practise and people involved in transforming community assets first hand.

Places cost £95 if you’re from a community group/organisation or social enterprise or £125 for anyone from local authority, the private sector or making an individual booking. Anyone booking by 30th April 2012 will get a 20% discount on these rates.

For more information on the event and booking, please visit the Locality website.

News From Nowhere are holding a special evening event on World Book Night – Monday 23rd April from 6pm-9pm – to allow literature lovers to celebrate the momentous occasion surrounded by tons of books. They’ll have 25 free copies of one of the World Book Night books, Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, to give away on the night, as well as a communal book display for readers to show off the books they love, a range of one-minute readings from favourite books, consolation prizes for those who don’t manage to snap up one of the 25 free copies of Good Omens and refreshments for all.

Whether you’re a seasoned booklover or you’ve never been in a bookshop before, this night is for you – you can browse, buy or just soak up the bookish atmosphere. It’s also Shakespeare’s birthday, and we’re sure he could think of no better birthday party than sharing in the joys of books.

World Book Night at News From Nowhere
Monday 23rd April, 6pm-9pm
News from Nowhere Radical & Community Bookshop, 96 Bold St, Liverpool, L1 4HY 0151 708 7270

And make sure you join us right here on the blog on Monday for our own Shakespeare inspired World Book Night celebrations…

One of the official Olympic poets for 2012, Lemn is also associate artist at the Southbank Centre and was awarded an MBE in 2010. He recently became a patron of The Reader Organisation and will be appearing on the panel discussing ‘Literature and Children’s Wellbeing’ on Day One. As someone who spent 17 years growing up in the care system, Lemn is passionate about improving the lives of Looked After Children through initiatives such as our own Get Into Reading project.

He will also be appearing in conversation with TRO’s Jane Davis at Day Two of our conference, a day exclusively designed for those who have completed our Read to Lead training.

Here’s a preview of his thoughts:

What is the last book you read that moved you?

A Love Letter from a Stray Moon by Jay Griffiths

Why are you interested in what The Reader Organisation does?

The Reader Organisation releases the true life changing power of the intimate act of reading. 

To hear more from Lemn Sissay and our work with young people, book your place now for The Reader Organisation’s National Conference, 17th-18th May 2012, British Library, London. Visit our website to register and for more details about the programme.

On Friday 20th April, the Little Girl Giant will be arriving in Everton Park as part of her journey. To welcome her to the community, and to officially launch the Out of the Blue Festival 2012 programme, West Everton Community Council and Friends of Everton Park will be holding a ‘Picnic in the Park’ at the top of Everton Park. Members of the community and other visitors are invited to sing songs, share stories and have some lunch as the Little Girl has her siesta between 12.30-4pm.

The event will also be the culmination of Get Into Reading’s Titanic memorial celebrations – for the past few weeks, Get Into Reading groups across Liverpool and Wirral have been reading and discussing poems and other pieces inspired by the sinking of the Titanic, sharing memories of the world’s most famous ship. As part of the Sea Odyssey event and Out of the Blue launch, Get Into Reading Liverpool Project Manager Eleanor Stanton will be reading Thomas Hardy’s The Convergence of the Twain at the Park on Friday so to share in the reading, come along for what promises to be a great celebration – and if you can, please wear something blue.