Having started in great style last year, this year’s festival looks to be even bigger –  in more ways than one. Threshold 2012 won’t be held under one roof but several, taking over the entirety of Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle for a whole weekend, in venues including Camp and Furnace, the Blade Factory, the New Picket, Elevator, the Nordic Church, the Lantern Theatre and the Brewery Tap.

Curated as a collaboration between promoters Under The Influence and the Contemporary Urban Centre (unfortunately recently  closed in physical form but very much still ongoing in spirit), Threshold has been a champion of arts at grassroots level; the ethos at its heart being to engage with the arts, music and performance promoters, providing them with a platform to create and explore.

Amongst the highlights of a bumper line-up is a Performing Shakespeare workshop by Max Rubin (Lodestar, Liverpool Shakespeare Festival) and Script In Hand Theatre at the Lantern Theatre and a Philosophy in Pubs discussion of Culture of Capital at The Brewery Tap.

One day tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday cost £10 each, with Weekend tickets costing £25. All tickets are available from Skiddle.com or via the Threshold Facebook page . Full schedules and line-ups can be found on the website, through Twitter and Tumblr.

Over 250 years on (253 to be precise), the Ploughman Poet is still heralded as Scotland’s finest and his work holds a firm place in the heart of many a Scot, as well as people of various other nationalities. Just days ago, a poll questioning over 1,000 Scots about their ultimate Rabbie poem concluded the nation’s favourite to be the epic Tam O’Shanter, one of the first and arguably finest examples of narrative poetry. Coming in second place was A Man’s a Man for A’ That, with – very appropriately – Address To A Haggis just behind.

But you might not know that Rabbie was not just the poet of the people, but that A-list stars had a fondness for him too. In what is probably one of the most bizarre meetings of literature and music I have ever come across, it has been revealed that back in the late 1980′s Michael Jackson recorded a series of showtunes inspired by Burns’s life and work. The intriguing sounding collection has not seen the light of day before but is now to be donated to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayrshire, as a way of illustrating Burns’s “international, enduring artistic legacy”. Let’s hope the songs are more Bard than Bad (if you can come up with any better Burns/Jacko puns they’d be appreciated because that was, quite frankly, rubbish).

Seeing as today is not only Burns Night but also St Dwynwen’s Day – the Welsh Valentine’s Day – it seems only appropriate to mark the two occasions with what has to be Rabbie’s most romantic poem (which can also be found in Poems To Take Home). A bonnie Burns Night and Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus (‘Happy St Dwynwen’s Day’, for those of us who don’t speak Welsh) to all.

A Red, Red Rose

My luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June:
My luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune:

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till all the seas gang dry -

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun -
And I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run!

And fare thee weel, my only luve,
And fare thee weel, a while -
And I will come again, my luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile!

Robert Burns

We celebrated both Dickens’ bicentenary, and the expansion of our Get Into Reading groups across the capital, with a truly magical line-up of readers, comedy, and music which had the audiences in stitches one minute, and tearful the next. The British Library provided a suitably literary venue and Vintage gave everyone a free Dickens novel to take home with them. No wonder the public tickets sold out in a day!

Charles Dickens casts a critical eye over proceedings

Whilst a portrait of the great man himself looked down on us, his actual DNA appeared on stage in the form of Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, his great-great-great granddaughter, who apologised for reading A Tale of Two Cities from a well-loved paperback rather than a precious family heirloom. This made no difference to the quality of her performance, however; all of our readers left the audience in spellbound silence. 

The wonderful AS Byatt read the opening to Great Expectations, reminiscing about the effect it had on her as a child and delivering Magwitch’s threats with relish. It might be January, but our own Phil Davis’ portrayal of the loving Cratchitt family in A Christmas Carol  still kindled a warm and fuzzy feeling, whilst  Angela Macmillan movingly recreated Peggotty’s loyalty and devotion to the young David Copperfield, leaving one audience member ‘weeping like a burst water pipe’.

Ida Barr does her thing

TRO's Director Jane Davis and Tweedy the Clown

 Judging by the enthusiastic response from the audience and the reaction on Twitter, the event was an enormous success:

“I didn’t know I could be entertained like that”

“Clowns, cowbells, magicians and AS Byatt should be mixed more often!”

“Pure joy”

Dickens himself was a consummate entertainer and would surely have approved of the eclectic line-up, a perfect mix of comedy and pathos, just like the novels we were there to celebrate.

A big thank you to everyone who was involved and made it such a special event. If you came along, we’d love to hear your thoughts so please leave a comment below.

Don’t worry if you didn’t make it this time around – we will be back in Liverpool as usual in December and fingers crossed our London escapades will be the first of many!

The festive season has officially begun!

Last night saw The Reader Organisation once again take over the small concert room in St George’s Hall for our annual Dickensian extravaganza, the Penny Readings.

Judging by the reaction from the audience and on Twitter, the night was a resounding success.

“It was a perfect evening”

“The Penny Readings by @thereaderorg was fantastic. Completely surpassed my expectations. So entertaining, accessible and cultural!”

“Maybe only at Liverpool’s ‘Penny Readings‘ d’ya get David Morrissey being Macbeth on the same bill as a ukulele orchestra #splendidtime”

Frank Cottrell Boyce had the audience in stitches, magician Darren Campbell left us dazed and confused, we had some wonderful readings from The Reader Organisation’s very own Angela Macmillan, Casi Dylan and Beverley LaRoc, whilst Raven Sinclair-Edmonds treated us to some…interesting poetry of her own. The musical talents of trumpeter Grace Farrington and pianist Jasmine Scarisbrick were followed by the stunning voice of Lauren Spink, whilst the Wirral Ukulele Orchestra brought the house down with their flamboyant Hawaiian shirts and Santa hats.

Our special guest David Morrissey read a passage from Our Mutual Friend and performed one of Macbeth’s most famous speeches in homage to his recent starring role at the Everyman Theatre.

The evening was rounded off by the traditional rendition of a passage from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol by Professor Phil Davis. No doubt the great man himself would have approved of this early start to his bicentenary celebrations.

Our younger readers weren’t forgotten in all this excitement, as we held our second Ha’Penny Readings earlier in the day. Kids young and old enjoyed an afternoon of laughter and Christmas cheer led by MC extraordinaire Patrick Fisher and his friends from improv comedy group Sticky Floor. The Christmas party attended by Jedward, Horrid Henry and a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex was the stuff of nightmares!

“Wacky fun!”

Pianist Jasmine popped up again with a wonderful composition of her own, there were more readings by Angela Macmillan, whilst Scream Street author Tommy Donbavand roped in some audience members to help act out a story of werewolves, mummies, vampires and dragons. Two of our Young Person’s Project workers, Samantha Shipman and Anna Fleming, entertained the audience with their favourite festive poems; Anna was especially convincing as a bird from ‘Turkeys United’ demanding ‘No to Cuts!’. There was even a special appearance from Santa Claus, who took time out of his busy schedule to read a little something and deliver a gift to all those readers who fulfilled his ‘naughty or nice’ criteria.

If you were at either event, we’d love to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment below.

A big thank you to everyone who made the day such a special one – time to start planning next year!

I knew I’d picked the right seminar at the TRO conference when the first slide in the Libraries We Love presentation was of an old man wielding a guitar, impressively close to doing the splits:

That old man is, in fact, Keith Richards busting out on his trademark Telecaster. Richards was guitarist with The Rolling Stones from the early 1960s up until their demise in… no, incredibly they’re still creaking around… anyway, it has come to our attention that Richards is a big fan of libraries. Well, my two great loves are books and rock ‘n’ roll so I thought I’d have a look and see what involvement Richards has had, and could have, in the future of public libraries.

The first thing I found was a video of a long interview with Richards at the New York Central Library.

If you click along to around 8 minutes 50 seconds in, you will hear him talking about his love of libraries as a child growing up in Kent. I was struck by Richards’ response to the interviewer’s initial question about libraries - he smiles and says ‘Sure’ with quiet relish as though it’s his special topic on Mastermind. For a boy expelled from school, it is interesting to hear Richards speak of his willingness to obey the rules of libraries and that he valued them as places of civilisation.

In a BBC interview with Andrew Marr, Richards agreed that his childhood was Dickensian and that he was ‘one of the reprobates’, something which clearly continued into adulthood when he was jailed in 1967 on drugs charges. There is something about strict routine and regulation which connects prisons with Richards’ perception of libraries. The idea of ‘thou shalt not’, perhaps. Nevertheless, that libraries operate around their own internal laws (no talking, no food and drink etc.) was somehow appealing to Richards; strangely the institutionalism of his library was the thing he enjoyed, perhaps giving a sense of order to what became an otherwise hectic lifestyle. It certainly makes you wonder how we could achieve a balance between relaxing rules to make libraries less intimidating but also preserving rules so as to maintain the comfort of clarity and stability for library users.

Next, I came came across a short article in The Times, ‘It’s only books and shelves but I like it’. The article reports on the career Richards might have chosen had he not become a musician…

Last year Richards released a book himself, Life. I haven’t read it yet but reviews of the autobiography suggest it is a warts n all type of thing. I searched online for a taster and found a digital version of it, available here.

(You might need to press on the + button to make it legible.)

During the conference seminar, we had a long discussion about which titles should be in our libraries and who should choose them. Maybe Life ought to be among the stock on our dream library’s shelves – it is life we need to breathe into the public library system, after all.

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Listening to the performance of ‘The Ballad of Hollis Brown’ from this set it hit me what the Blues do, and what Dylan does, that The Reader Organisation relies on in its work: gives voice to a story at a pace that means you can’t escape it and don’t want to. It’s the slowness. The lines are repeated. There’s the unrelenting guitar in between. There’s something about it that has you caught as the words keep coming in his ordinary human voice, seeing things, in patterns that let you anticipate where you’re going. And then there’s the inevitability of the conclusion. ‘The Ballad of Hollis Brown’ is a true story and it’s a perfect song for a live audience.

People always say of Dylan that he brought poetry to popular music, fulfilled the Beatnik hopes, but in a song like this, he seems more the storyteller. I don’t know if it will read off the screen the way it sounds. (I searched on YouTube for a recording but can find only covers.) Perhaps looking at the time-scale will help to unlock that ‘live’ feeling – you’re listening to the whole story (Hollis Brown is dead and gone), but the telling puts you into a ‘now’ where his experiences are too acute to belong to the past. The shift happens almost as soon as the address changes from ‘He’ to ‘You’. It’s desperate:

The Ballad of Hollis Brown

Hollis Brown

He lived on the outside of town

Hollis Brown

He lived on the outside of town

With his wife and five children

And his cabin broken down.

You looked for work and money

And you walked a ragged mile

You looked for work and money

And you walked a ragged mile

Your children are so hungry

That they don’t know how to smile.

Your baby’s eyes look crazy

They’re a-tuggin’ at your sleeve

Your baby’s eyes look crazy

They’re a-tuggin’ at your sleeve

You walk the floor and wonder why

With every breath you breathe.

The rats have got your flour

Bad blood it got your mare

The rats have got your flour

Bad blood it got your mare

If there’s anyone that knows

Is there anyone that cares?

You prayed to the Lord above

Oh please send you a friend

You prayed to the Lord above

Oh please send you a friend

You ain’t got that much money boy

You ain’t a-got no friend.

Your babies are crying louder now

It’s pounding on your brain

Your babies are crying louder now

It’s a-pounding on your brain

Your wife’s screams are stabbin’ you

Like the dirty drivin’ rain.

Your grass is turning black

There’s no water in your well

Your grass is turning black

There’s no water in your well

Your spent your last lone dollar

On seven shotgun shells.

Way out in the wilderness

A cold coyote calls

Way out in the wilderness

A cold coyote calls

Your eyes fix on the shotgun

That’s a-hangin’ on the wall.

Your brain is a-bleedin’

And your legs can’t seem to stand

Your brain is a-bleedin’

And your legs can’t seem to stand

Your eyes fix on the shotgun

That you’re holdin’ in your hand.

There’s seven breezes a-blowin’

All around your cabin door

There’s seven breezes a-blowin’

All around the cabin door

Seven shots ring out

Like the ocean’s pounding roar.

There’s seven people dead

On a South Dakota farm

There’s seven people dead

On a South Dakota farm

Somewhere’s in the distance

There’s seven new people born.

In ‘Masters of War’ Dylan blames the Cold War politicians for throwing ‘the worst fear that can ever be hurled / Fear to bring children into the world’, and the angry song is one of the great protest songs. But the regret of ‘The Ballad of Hollis Brown’ is harder hitting still. Like most blues and folk music, it doesn’t seem to have been written so much as you feel it’s always existed, part of an ongoing cycle.

Mental Health Project Manager Mary Weston led a presentation on behalf of The Reader Organisation, speaking to all delegates about the rapid acceleration of The Reader’s involvement in Mersey Care services. Mary also spoke about both the pleasure and profound impact of bringing great literature to everyone.

Mary was joined by Mersey Care Reader in Residence Eleanor McCann, who went about challenging a preconception that reading groups were in place just to address literacy, and challenging the idea that cultural practices in health services are additional rather than integral parts of clinical care. Eleanor also presented the following video featuring TRO staff members explaining what Get Into Reading is:

Two service users based in Mersey Care community groups told of how their regular reading sessions were of significant help, Get Into Reading provided them with “something to look forward to,” one of the speakers said they were “now in a good place” and encouraged all trusts to become involved with The Reader Organisation before saying that they were “eternally grateful.” The fact that the two members of GIR groups were willing to stand up and talk in front of a room full of a couple of hundred delegates from across various organisations was testament to the strength of Get Into Reading, particularly in health care environments.

Other organisations present included Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool Tate, Everton in the Community (Everton F.C.) and National Museums Liverpool, with some offering workshops.

Delegates from The Reader Organisation attended various workshops. In the morning Bev went to the Philharmonic workshop whilst Anna McCracken, Casi, Niall, Grace and I attended the Tate workshop. Here we were split up into smaller groups and were given the title of an artwork from the Alice exhibition which starts later in 2011, based on the brilliant children’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I was a member of a team including Casi, Niall and Steve from Mersey Care. We were given the title ‘The Pool of Tears’ and had to draw our own interpretation of the title. We decided to depict the Liver Bird crying into the River Mersey, with all of us putting pen to paper in an attempt to eke out our creative sides. Here we are with our take on ‘The Pool of Tears’:

You can't see it very clearly, but trust me, it's a masterpiece!

In the afternoon, most Reader delegates went to the Liverpool Philharmonic workshop. This was a fascinating experience led by professional cellist and Musician in Residence Georgina Aasgard. Georgina played some outstanding music on the cello before getting us all to join in, which included singing ‘Smile’ by Charlie Chaplin. Georgina recalled a moment when following a music session in one health service, a service user wrote a poem about birds, before she read the same poem to us.

In The Reader’s workshops Mary and Eleanor ran sessions where they read ‘Scaffolding’ by Seamus Heaney and the short story ‘Permanent Granite Sunrise’ by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

One of the group said “I used to think poetry was tosh, too abstract, but this is really human.”  Others were quick to apply the message to their own situations, and a number said that they would be passing the poem on to partners or other family members.

Overall the conference underlined the idea Eleanor spoke of in the morning, that cultural involvement in health services is not an out there concept that needs to be met with great scepticism; initiatives such as Get Into Reading should be viewed as integral to helping group members’ mental wellbeing.

Speaking about the conference and The Reader Organisation’s presentation, Mary Weston said:

When we heard we had been given a presentation slot alongside the Liverpool Phil and Everton Football Club, we were almost as thrilled as we were terrified.  Eleanor and I spent a lot of time planning it, with Cath McCafferty and Kirsty Morrison, our Trust partners.  Eleanor shot a brilliant video, going round The Reader office asking people to describe Get Into Reading.  Maryanne Wolf, at The Reader Organsation conference had threatened to fall off the stage, and thinking this was clearly the easiest way to imitate her dynamic presentation style, I tripped over a ramp near the podium.

After this though everything went beautifully. The two service users spoke very movingly – loads of people came up to them after the session.  I think The Reader Organisation came across as very human, vibrant and passionate, not just from the presentation, but from our presence as a body, with Grace, Casi, Jen, Anna, Bev, Niall and Dave there as well.  We made links with people in the Tate, the Phil, and the Merseyside Dance initiative, and our waiting list for Mersey Care groups has shot up again.

The University of Liverpool’s School of Music has just published their programme of events for the coming weeks and, on their behalf, we would like to extend an invitation for you to join them at the concerts.

The Wednesday lunchtime performances run until the 15th December, and are all free.

Click here to see a full list of performances.

Witness the wizardry where words and music converge

Poetry is blasting its way into the hearts and minds of a new generation with high energy and rhythmic poetry sketching out a new literary landscape for the 21st century.

Come along to this live show and experience comedy, tragedy, romance and philosophy; words interwoven with live and improvised loops, beats and melodies from five poets and one globally acclaimed musician. Poet in the City and Apples and Snakes, two of the top UK poetry organisations, invite you to their show at the Bluecoat, at 7pm on Tuesday 28th September.

Tickets £5/£4 Concessions.

Call 0151 702 5342 or click here to book

http://www.spokenwordallstars.com/

This exciting event is a rare opportunity to visit the historic gardens of Clarence House, Lancaster House and Marlborough House to help celebrate and promote sustainable living. The twelve day garden party, in the heart of London, will be a vibrant blend of exhibitions, interactive displays, fun activities and live performances from comedians, musicians and speakers.

You’ll have the chance to get involved in debates chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Clive Anderson, or learn how to jazz up your old threads with fashion workshops curated by Dame Vivienne Westwood. If that’s not enough for you, Alan Tichmarsh has been hard at work pulling together a selection of gardening workshops and displays, whilst Kate Humble concentrates on the food! Jools Holland is in charge of music, while Hugh Dennis and Marcus Brigstocke take care of the comedy.

Make sure to visit the Practical Action stand to discover how you can ‘Start’ their energy campaign.

Start will take place around the gardens of Clarence House, London

The garden party runs from 8th – 19th September 2010, 10am – 6pm daily (excluding the last Sunday where opening hours are 12 noon – 6pm)

For further details and to buy tickets to the event visit the Start Garden Party website.

Ella Jolly, Fundraising Research Officer for Practical Action and friend of The Reader Organisation, will be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in aid of Practical Action on 10/10/10! Please sponor her here: http://www.justgiving.com/george-ella