This exhibition features a selection of original artwork from this year’s Liverpool Reads book The Savage including the original front cover from the hard back edition which is both intriguing and chilling.

Dave McKean has illustrated several award-winning comics including Arkham Asylum with author/playwright Grant Morrison, Signal to Noise and Mr. Punch with author Neil Gaiman. He has written as well as illustrated two books (Cages and Pictures That Tick) released four different collections of his photography (Black and White Lies, Option:Click, The Particle Tarot: The Major Arcana and The Particle Tarot: The Minor Arcana) and has created hundreds of comic and book covers including the hugely popular Sandman series.

Multi-talented, Dave has created ad campaigns and over 150 CD packages for Michael Nyman, Tori Amos, Counting Crows and Alice Cooper amongst others. He has worked on a variety of book and film projects with John Cale, The Rolling Stones, Milcho Manchevski, Stephen King, Lars Von Trier and Iain Sinclair. He is currently directing and designing films including the recent Jim Henson Studios produced Mirrormask and character design on the Harry Potter movie franchise. He also jointly oversees the running of the jazz record label Feral.

The Bluecoat is delighted to host an exhibition featuring a selection of original artwork by Dave McKean from The Savage. The exhibition starts outside the bar (press 2 in the lift) and continues on the floor above. It is open from 10.00am until 10.00pm Tuesday to Saturday and 10.00am until 6.00pm on Sundays and Mondays.

The images displayed are courtesy of the artist Dave McKean with support from Walker Books and David Almond.

The book is a modern retelling of Othello, in which the Moor of Venice and his wife Desdemona are transformed into the South American equivalent of Posh and Becks.

Read more on the Guardian’s site.

Got yours yet? Read yours yet? If so, pass it on!

We’ve got 20,000 copies of The Savage by author David Almond and illustrator Dave McKean, to give away across Greater Merseyside as part of Liverpool Reads 2009.

Today, author of The Savage, David Almond, illustrator Dave McKean, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Mike Hagen and Director of The Reader Organisation, Jane Davis, along with trainee firefighters, will be helping to load up fire engines with free copies of this year’s Liverpool Reads book, The Savage, and begin the quest to get them to communities across Merseyside.

You can get your copy of The Savage from: all Greater Merseyside libraries (across Halton, Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St. Helens, Warrington and Wirral), Merseytravel bus stations and M2Go rail station shops, Waterstone’s (Bold Street and Liverpool ONE), News from Nowhere (Bold Street), Amorous Cat (Lark Lane), Starbucks (Bold Street) and all Liverpool Football Club Stores.

It’s a busy time in the office here, making sure that the 20,000 books are in the right places for collection (click here to find out where you can get yours), organising the final plans for the launch events (more information to come on that soon) and getting the word about Liverpool Reads out there.

All the Merseysiders out there, hope you’re looking forward to getting your copy of The Savage! If you want to find out more at this stage, email liverpoolreads@thereader.org.uk.

The Savage, written by David Almond and illustrated by Dave McKean has been chosen as the Liverpool Reads book for 2009. Liverpool Reads is a book bonanza – a city-wide initiative, coordinated by us encouraging the reading and sharing of one book each year – launching a week today!

The Savage is a uniquely presented, touching tale of grief, solace and hope from a master of contemporary storytelling and a visionary artist. David Almond, acclaimed author of Skellig – a children’s novel recently adapted into a major drama for Sky television – is a Whitbread Children’s award winner and was short-listed for the Carnegie Medal for The Fire-Eaters.

This year there are 20,000 copies of The Savage (published by Walker Books) to give away across the whole of Greater Merseyside. The Savage will be available for you to collect from 15th September from: all Merseyside libraries (across Halton, Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St. Helens, Warrington and Wirral), Merseytravel bus stations and M2Go rail station shops, Waterstone’s (Bold Street and Liverpool ONE), News from Nowhere (Bold Street), Amorous Cat (Lark Lane), Starbucks (Bold Street) and all Liverpool Football Club Stores. Get there quick to get yours!

Director of The Reader Organisation, Jane Davis, says:

The Savage may be the boldest choice of book we’ve made for Liverpool Reads. It’s a graphic novel, it’s a children’s book, but also a book for adults. It’s a book to share with your family – read it aloud, or to take it to work and talk it over with your workmates. We’re very excited about bringing 20,000 free copies of The Savage to Merseyside. Make sure one copy has your name on it.

David Almond, author of The Savage spoke of his delight about being involved in the project:

I was really thrilled when I heard that The Savage had been chosen for Liverpool Reads. It’s a groundbreaking project – imaginative, creative, optimistic and wonderfully democratic – and it’s a great honour to be part of it. The Savage is in many ways my favourite of all my books, not least because it is my first collaboration with the visionary artist Dave McKean. I hope that the people of Liverpool enjoy it!

Dave McKean, illustrator, says:

It’s a wonderful initiative, encouraging people to read is always welcome, but getting everyone to read the same book so they can talk to each other about it and share their own thoughts on the story is particularly inspired.

Throughout the Liverpool Reads project, we’ll be reading the book aloud in Get Into Reading groups, where people across Merseyside communities will be able to share their thoughts and feelings on The Savage together.

We’ll be reading it with older people, asking how the book makes us feel about young people. We’ll be reading it with young people, asking what the book makes us feel about fear, love and creativity.

There are plenty of ways you can get involved and find out more, which will be on our website once Liverpool Reads has launched: .

An exhibition of Dave McKean’s original artwork from The Savage will be on show at the Bluecoat from 15th September – 31st October 2009. Books will be available until they’re all snapped up!

For more information email liverpoolreads@thereader.org.uk or call 0151 794 2830.

Liverpool Reads Coordinator

Q: How do you get thousands of Scousers to read the same book?
A: Why don’t you tell us?

Liverpool Reads is a city-wide reading initiative which gets tens of thousands of people on Merseyside reading the same book each year. Founded in 2004, Liverpool Reads has become a big fixture in Liverpool’s cultural calendar, reaching thousands of people in very diverse communities. This year we gave away 13,000 books, ran scores of local reading groups, and hosted some fabulous large-scale events.

Books are free travel passes for journeys through space and time, and it’s a brilliant, radical idea on the part of Liverpool Reads to distribute them to the people of Liverpool.
Mal Peet, Liverpool Reads Author 2008

If you think you have the energy, talent, love of literature, project management skills and administrative nous to coordinate Liverpool Reads, please get in touch now. We’d love to hear from you (details below).

Wirral Community Shakespeare Coordinator

Wirral Community Shakespeare (WCS) is a social inclusion project which has grown out of The Reader Organisation’s nationally-lauded Get into Reading project. It combines theatrical production of the highest calibre with supportive and extensive social inclusion work. In August 2008 WCS staged an open-air production of The Winter’s Tale in Birkenhead Park (involving 28 members of the local community and a small team of professionals) to critical acclaim and the joy of the Wirral population. The Reader Organisation would like to build on this event and make an annual production the culmination of a full year’s social inclusion work.

Wirral Community Shakespeare gave me the feeling of being part of something very special, like the birth of a new baby. Let’s watch it grow.
WCS cast member

If you have a love of Shakespeare and of people, and you think you have the energy, project management skills and administrative nous to coordinate Wirral Community Shakespeare, please apply (details below).

Deadline for applications for both jobs is Monday 27th October. Please contact Chris Catterall, Business Manager for an application pack: email  chriscatterall<at>thereader.org.uk or call 0151 794 2830.

You can download this information to print out. Click here for information about the Get Into reading Coordinator post or here for information about the Wirral Community Shakespeare post.

Exciting news! The Liverpool Reads… Mal Peet website has just gone live. Please take a look:

www.liverpoolreads.com

2008 is the National Year of Reading as well as Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture. Liverpool Reads is proud to present its fourth annual reading adventure with two novels by author Mal Peet, Keeper and Tamar, jointly sponsored for the first time by Cobalt Housing and Liverpool Housing Trust (LHT). Liverpool Reads is a city-wide reading adventure where each year a book is distributed for free across the city and a programme of outreach activity, author events, reading groups, and other great activities are coordinated to accompany the Big Read.

This year’s read focusses on Liverpool, its love of the beautiful game, its regeneration after the Second World War and on to this year of celebration. Keeper will be the central book with 10,000 copies to be distributed for free from Liverpool Libraries. A coupon will be printed in the Liverpool Echo on 6th, 7th, and 8th of March which can be exchanged for a copy of the book. The novel tells the story of El Gato–the Cat–the world’s greatest goalkeeper–how he, a poor South American logger’s son, learns to become a World Cup-winning goalkeeper, so good he is almost unbeatable.

In addition to this, Liverpool Reads will be using Mal Peet’s Carnegie Prize winning novel Tamar, which is a story of espionage, love, jealousy, and tragedy set in Nazi-occupied Holland and appeals to all age ranges. We have 3,000 copies of Tamar to use in various intergenerational projects around the city in. Work has already begun on some of the initiatives for this year including the Four Corners Project in association with The Reader Organisation and The Bluecoat where youth groups and older peoples’ community groups will work together using the two books to produce creative responses to the text.

We are extremely excited to have the support of Walker Books for this year’s Big Read. Author Mal Peet says of the project:

“Books are free travel passes for journeys through space and time, and it’s a brilliant, radical idea on the part of Liverpool Reads to distribute them to the people of Liverpool. And I feel hugely honoured that in 2008, the National Year of Reading and the year in which Liverpool is the European Capital of Culture, my books have been chosen as the City Reads. All it will take now for my happiness to be complete is either Liverpool or Everton winning the Premiership and the Cup. (One each would do!)”

And there’s more …

You are invited to the public launch of Liverpool Reads … Mal Peet which takes place on Thursday 6th March (World Book Day) at the Central Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool.

Light refreshments will be served on a first come first served basis at 6pm and the event starts at 6.30pm prompt.

Mal will be reading from his two novels and answering audience questions

Tickets are now available for collection only for FREE from four Liverpool Libraries: Central – William Brown Street, Childwall – Childwall Five Ways, Walton – Evered Avenue, and Allerton – Allerton Road. Tickets are limited to four per person.

For more details on the project, please contact Bea Colley, Liverpool Reads Coordinator on 0151 794 2291, b [dot] colley [at] liverpool [dot] ac [dot] uk or visit www.liverpoolreads.com.