The Reader

Today's poem is 'A Winter's Night' by William Barnes. It's read by Frances Macmillan from The Reader.

Today's poem is 'After Rain' by Edward Thomas. It's read by Abi Blackburn from The Reader.

Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.

Today's poem is 'Bleak Weather' by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. It's read by Jen Jarman from The Reader.

www.thereader.org.uk

Today's poem is 'Under This Sky' by Zia Hyder translated from Bengali by Bhabani Sengupta and Naomi Shihab Nye. It's read by Rachael Elliott from The Reader.

From 'Under This Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World' ed.Naomi Shihab Nye.

The Bromley by Bow Centre in London is a unique community centre, charity and community research project that seeks to offer people a wide variety of services based on their individual needs – from medical help, to job support, meeting people or learning a new skill. The centre was a model and inspiration for The Reader’s own headquarters at Calderstones Mansion House in Liverpool. Rob Trimble is a patron of The Reader and was until recently the Chief Executive of Bromley by Bow, and he joins The Reader’s George Hawkins to talk about how we can create spaces for human beings to find meaning, connection and hope.  

The Bromley by Bow Centre website 

Bromley by Bow featured on ‘The Truth About... Improving Your Mental Health’ on BBC One 

The Reader website 

‘Not Love Perhaps’ by A.S.J. Tessimond 

On 14th September 2023 Batsford Books will publish an handsome new anthology, A Poem to Read Aloud Every Day of the Year. This anthology has been compiled by Liz Ison who has volunteered or worked for The Reader for many years, running a variety of Shared Reading groups both in person and online. The Reader’s Director of Literature, Katie Clark, spoke to Liz about her reading life, how that’s been influenced by Shared Reading, and the genesis of this anthology. During their chat they read aloud from the collection and delve into the mysteries and magic of reading aloud.

A Poem to Read Aloud Every Day of the Year at Bookshop.org

The A Little, Aloud series

The Reader website

Liz Ison on Instagram

Episode 14 – Heritage and Literature 

In this episode, staff from The Reader take us on an audio tour of The Reader’s Liverpool home, Calderstones Mansion House in Calderstones Park. We learn a little about the history of the Mansion and the ancient monument that gives the house and park its name, and listen to literature that brings those spaces and their former inhabitants to life.  

This episode is the first of several about The Reader’s two-year heritage project, Making Meaning at Calderstones, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, during which we are uncovering and telling the stories of Calderstones as a significant place of meaning-making.  

Read more about Calderstones Mansion House 

An interactive map of Calderstones Park 

Making Meaning at Calderstones: The Reader’s Heritage project 

Time Traveller’s Shared Reading group 

The Silence Living in Houses by Esther Morgan 

Collected Poems: Anne Ridler 

‘A Muse in Livery’ by Robert Dodsley 

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot 

Photo of a Calder Stone 

The Collected Poems of George Mackay Brown 

Isobel from The Reader meets Neil Griffiths, educational consultant, author and storyteller. Their conversation ranged over Neil’s childhood, growing up with a father who read bedtime stories every night, to his time as a head-teacher working hard to engage parents and teachers, and on to advising governments on education and the importance of reading. What shines through all is Neil’s passionate belief in the benefits of reading aloud to children. 

Neil Griffith’s website 

Purchase Issue 76 of The Reader magazine from our online shop 

The Reader’s interactive story space in Liverpool 

Collected Poems by Elizabeth Jennings 

This episode will be released on 13th December, which is celebrated by some as St Lucy’s Day, a festival of light. On our ‘Light and Darkness’-themed Reader bookshelf this year is Katherine May’s Wintering, a compassionate, curious, wide-ranging book which describes a phase of life that comes to us all at some point, and shows what respite and renewal can be found even through the darkest times. Katherine May was our guest at Gravity festival in October, speaking to Melissa Chapple and Philip Davis about Wintering, and also about her first book, The Electricity of Every Living Thing. We also hear how Wintering resonated with audience members at Gravity, and listen to the John Donne poem ‘A Nocturnal Upon St Lucy’s Day’.  

The Reader Bookshelf 

The Reader ‘Bookshelf in a Box’ - Wintering edition 

More about Katherine May and her books 

Melissa Chapple on Twitter 

Melissa’s research paper on reading and autism 

Philip Davis’s book Reading for Life on Bookshop.org. 

‘A Nocturnal Upon St Lucy’s Day’ by John Donne