The Reader Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Reader
Welcome to The Reader Podcast. The Reader is a national charity bringing about a Reading Revolution so that everyone can experience and enjoy great literature, which we believe is a tool for helping humans survive and live well. Through our global Shared Reading movement, powered by 1,000 volunteers and many partnerships, we bring thousands of people together every month through weekly Shared Reading groups. Our podcast is for anyone who loves books and believes they can be powerful tools for change, and wants to hear more of the powerful, personal responses that reading can provide. It will feature great guests, conversations and thoughts about books and reading, and show how reading together improves wellbeing, strengthens communities and sparks the change needed in the world.
The Reader is a registered charity and we rely on the generous support of individuals and organisations to help us change lives through Shared Reading around the UK. Please visit www.thereader.org.uk to donate and find out how you can get involved with our work. We are grateful for the kind support of our core funders Arts Council England, National Lottery Community Fund, the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and the Steve Morgan Foundation.
Last year The Reader Podcast visited Prospect Park, a psychiatric hospital in Berkshire, to learn more about the 14 year partnership they have built with The Reader. This partnership, powered by the energy and dedication of the Reader in Residence, Sue Colbourn, and the support and belief of the hospital’s brilliant staff, has resulted in countless stories that demonstrate how Shared Reading has been a powerful force for good in the lives of both the patients and the health practitioners who care for them.
Prospect Park Hospital
Partnering with The Reader
The Reader Podcast – previous episodes
‘Adlestrop’ by Edward Thomas
‘I Remember, I Remember’ by Thomas Hood
‘My Own Heart’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Welcome the final day of our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we shared with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Winter Dawn' by Tu Fu, translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth. It's read by Katie Clark, who works at The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'The Year' by Coventry Patmore. It's read by Chris Lynn, who produces The Reader Podcast.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Snowflakes' by Clive Sansom. It's read by Jemma Guerrier, who works at The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Endure Hardness' by Christina Rossetti. It's read by Kate Deegan, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the memoir Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee. It's read by Jess Harrison, who works at The Reader.
Cider with Rosie at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is 'Firewood Poem' by Celia Congreve. It's read by Rachael Elliott, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Merry Christmas!
Today's reading is an extract from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens It's read by Colin Dryden, who leads a Shared Reading group in Crosby, Merseyside.
Dickens at Christmas at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Hymn to the Belly' by Ben Jonson. It's read by Laura Barnes, who works for The Reader.
This poem is taken from the anthology 'A Poem to Read Aloud Every Day of the Year' edited by Liz Ison
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the novel 'The Mill on the Floss' by George Eliot. It's read by Sheryl Sze, who leads a Shared Reading group in Camden, London.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the short story 'The Gift of the Magi' by O.Henry. It's read by Henrik Wig, who runs Shared Reading in Sweden.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'If I Could Only Take Home a Snowflake' by John Agard. It's read by Tavia Panton, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the novel 'The Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame. It's read by Mary Crotty, who works for The Reader.
The Wind in the Willows at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the poem 'The Desire of Life' by Abu Al-Qassim Al-Shabbi, translated from the Arabic by Ali Al-Jamri. It's read by Megan Walder, who works for The Reader.
This poem is taken from the anthology Wonder: The Natural History Museum Poetry Book.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the novel Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. It's read by Julie McAdam, who works for The Reader.
Charlotte's Web at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Schoolboys in Winter' by John Clare. It's read by Ginny Hopton, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the story 'A Christmas Memory' by Truman Capote. It's read by Grace Frame, who works for The Reader.
A Christmas Memory at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Before the Ice is in the Pools' by Emily Dickinson. It's read by Lisa Brown, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It's read by Margaret Wagstaff, who leads a Shared Reading group in London.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Nocturnal Upon St Lucy's Day' by John Donne. It's read by Kristin Hutchinson, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from 'What Christmas Is, As We Grow Older' by Charles Dickens. It's read by Jen Jarman, who works for The Reader.
Dickens at Christmas at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Snowdrops' by Louise Glück. It's read by Angela Macmillan, the editor of The Reader anthologies A Little, Aloud, A Little, Aloud for Children and A Little, Aloud with Love.
A Little, Aloud at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Ode to Winter' by Gillian Clarke. It's read by Georgia Barrow, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the novel The Mouse & His Child by Russell Hoban. It's read by Clare Ellis, who works for The Reader.
The Mouse & His Child at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the poem 'The House of Falling Leaves' by William Stanley Braithwaite. It's read by Jen Chapman, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from the story 'The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle' by Arthur Conan Doyle. It's read by Varinder Khanna, who leads a Shared Reading group in London.
Full story at Project Gutenberg
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is Six Winter Haiku by Bashō, translated from the Japanese by Robert Hass. They are read by Kara Orford, who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is an extract from Kilvert's Diary. It's read by Anna McCracken, who works for The Reader.
Kilvert's Diary at Bookshop.org
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders
Today's reading is the poem 'One Evening' by William Stafford . It's read by Sam Owen who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'A Winter's Day' by Paul Laurence Dunbar. It's read by Erin Carlstrom who works for The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'Rain' by Sterling A. Brown . It's read by Evie Loy O'Neill, who leads a Shared Reading group in Richmond upon Thames.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
Welcome to our Festive Calendar, a special series of The Reader Podcast. Every day this December we will share with you a seasonal poem or a short extract from a novel or story, read by one of our staff or volunteer Reader Leaders.
Today's reading is the poem 'A Winter Bluejay' by Sara Teasdale. It's read by Julia Youngman from The Reader.
Support our Christmas Appeal and make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia. Please give what you can at www.thereader.org.uk
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
The Reader has been running Shared Reading sessions in criminal justice settings for over two decades. Our Shared Reading groups reach over 650 people per week across 28 prisons and probation settings. The Reader’s work in these settings is delivered by a staff of dedicated Reader Leaders, and until recently that team was led by Kate Bramhall – The Reader Podcast spoke to Kate about how she came to work for The Reader and discover Shared Reading for herself.
Learn more about The Reader’s work in Criminal Justice settings
Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Denis Benn
Native Son by Richard Wright
‘Ulysses’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Grief is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver
The children’s author Flavia Z. Drago visited The Reader at our immersive story space, The Storybarn, to talk about her wonderful picture books which include Gustavo the Shy Ghost and Vlad the Fabulous Vampire. Flavia spoke to The Reader’s Director of Programming, Kara Orford, about what she read as a child growing up in Mexico City, and what inspires her work today. Ideal listening while you prepare for all things witch and ghoul during this week of Hallowe’en!
Links:
Flavia Z. Drago
Flavia Z. Drago c/o Walker Books
Flavia’s books at Bookshop.org: Vlad, Gustavo and Leila; Monsters Play Counting; Monsters Play Peekaboo
The Storybarn at Calderstones Mansion House in Liverpool
Other children’s authors Flavia loves: Isabelle Arsenault; Beatrice Alemagna; Erika Meza; Juan Palomino; Tomi Ungerer
Buy tickets for the Fangtastic Family Feast
Hallowe’en at The Reader
‘The Listeners’ by Walter de la Mare
Participants in Shared Reading groups say that the experience helps them feel better, lifts their mood, or benefits their mental health. But what about physical problems – can Shared Reading help with them too? The Reader Podcast spoke to Helen Cook, who has been part of a long-running Shared Reading group for people living with chronic pain, to learn what Shared Reading means to her.
Links:
More information about chronic pain: Chronic Pain on NHS website; The British Pain Society; charity Pain Concern
Potiki by Patricia Grace
More about Shared Reading
Find a Shared Reading group near you
What is this thing we call Shared Reading? How does it work? Who is it for? What has changed in over two decades of The Reader’s Shared Reading? To help answer these questions, we spoke to a group of people who have led Shared Reading groups over many years in a variety of settings. Listen in for their honest, thoughtful and moving reflections.
It’s a bumper episode - see below for time stamps to help you navigate it:
0.00 - 12.22: Introductions to the speakers
12.23 - 51.07: The nuts and bolts of Shared Reading – how it works
51.30 - 1.02.00 The rewards of Shared Reading – who it’s for
1.02.17 - 1.12.22 How Shared Reading has changed (or how it hasn’t)
Links:
The International Shared Reading Conference at Calderstones
Find out more about Shared Reading
Find a Shared Reading group near you
Become a Reader volunteer
The founder of The Reader, Jane Davis, leads an online Shared Reading group who have met on Zoom every week for over two years to read The Prelude, a long, autobiographical poem by William Wordsworth. In this episode, members of the group explain how they came to be part of this special shared endeavour and what the experience has meant to them. We’ll hear about the early days of The Reader, and gain insight into how Shared Reading can create fellowship, powerful thoughts and feelings, and a shared sense of deeper meaning.
The Prelude by William Wordsworth (online text)
The Prelude by William Wordsworth (buy a copy)
Jane Davis reads Paradise Lost on Substack
Find a Shared Reading group near you
The Reader Bookshelf is a carefully curated collection of literature for adults and children, exploring a different theme each year. The Bookshelf includes a diverse range of stories, plays and poems which are shared across our Shared Reading movement. We join a Shared Reading group at Calderstones reading from Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story collection Interpreter of Maladies, a popular choice from last year’s Reader Bookshelf. And The Reader’s Director of Literature, Katie Clark, introduces our new Bookshelf for 2024-25, and this year’s theme of ‘Wonder’.
The Reader Bookshelf 2024-25
The Reader Bookshelf at Bookshop.org
Find a Shared Reading group near you
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Hill of Doors poetry collection by Robin Robertson
In this episode we learn about the secret histories of various species of trees from around the world which now, like The Reader, thrive in Calderstones Park in Liverpool. We’ll hear from representatives of Liverpool-based groups Chinese Wellbeing and Japan Society North West about the cultural significance of species such as cherry blossom and pine, and listen to poetry which unlocks the wonder and mystery of these trees. The episode is part of our heritage project, Making Meaning at Calderstones, which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Reader at Calderstones
Chinese Wellbeing
Japan Society North West
Wendell Berry poetry
170 Chinese Poems, translated by Arthur Waley
The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon
The Reader Podcast visits the new Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot in Merseyside to join one of the two Shared Reading groups that take place there every week. We listened in to the group reading an extract from King Lear together, had a tour of the theatre, and Reader Leader Emily Parr told us what Shared Reading brings to this unique community space.
The Shakespeare North Playhouse
The history of Shakespeare North Playhouse – an interview with architect Dr Nicholas Helm
King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2
‘Invictus’ by William Ernest Henley
What’s on? Open air theatre at Calderstones this summer
In this episode we return to The Reader's project uncovering the heritage of Calderstones, our home in Liverpool. We’ll be visiting a very special part of Calderstones - the Garden Theatre, an outdoor stage added to the Mansion House by Liverpool Council in the 1940s. We’ll hear from audience members who have enjoyed shows on this stage, both past and present, and learn why the Garden Theatre’s long association with Shakespeare makes Calderstones the perfect home for The Reader.
With thanks to The Reader’s heritage volunteers, all the local residents who shared their memories with us, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Reader’s 2024 Summer Season at the Garden Theatre
What's on at Calderstones
The History of Calderstones
The Handlebards
‘After a Play’ by Elizabeth Jennings, from The Collected Poems (Carcanet)
The Storybarn is a one-of-a-kind reading retreat for children and their grown-ups. Little ones can let their imaginations run wild, discovering new stories to share, and taking part in unique experiences, alongside arts and crafts.
In this episode we visit a Tiny Acorns session, a group where parents and carers spend time at The Storybarn with their newborns, picking up handy tips on reading with their little ones and enjoying Shared Reading together. We hear from the parents who attend these groups, as well as the Storybarn staff themselves, who give an insight into how the magic is made.
Visit the Storybarn page on our website
'When Giving is All We Have' by Alberto Rios
Episode 17 - Now We Sit With It
The title of this episode is taken from a new painting created for permanent display in Calderstones Mansion House by Liverpool-based artist Sumuyya Khader. The artwork responds to new research by a historian and Reader heritage volunteers into links between the Mansion House, its owners and the transatlantic slave economy. In this episode we speak to Robert, one of the volunteer researchers, and to Sumuyya Khader, to hear about the process of uncovering and responding to this research.
This episode has been funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of ‘Making Meaning at Calderstones’ – The Reader’s two-year project to uncover and celebrate the unique stories of our reading home.
More information about ‘Now We Sit With It’
Calderstones links to transatlantic slavery – what we know (The Reader website)
Sumuyya Khader
‘The White Man’s Guilt’ by James Baldwin in Dark Days (Penguin)
Today's poem is 'A Song for New Year's Eve' by William Cullen Bryant. It's read by Jemma Guerrier from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'Ring Out, Wild Bells' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It's read by Chris Lynn from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'A January Dandelion' by George Marion McClellan. It's read by Alex McCarten from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'The Old Year' by John Clare. It's read by Jamie Barton from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'The Burning of the Leaves' by Laurence Binyon. It's read by Clare Ellis from The Reader.
Today's poem is 'Snow in the Suburbs' by Thomas Hardy. It's read by Sue Highfield from The Reader.
Merry Christmas!
Today's poem is 'Winter Stars' by Sara Teasdale. It's read by Sami Wilson from The Reader.
Today's poem is 'Winter Trees' by William Carlos Williams. It's read by George Hawkins from The Reader.
From 'The Collected Poems Vol.1: 1909-1939' by William Carlos Williams (Carcanet, 2018). Permission requested.
Today's poem is 'Winter Days' by Gareth Owen. It's read by Carole Simms from The Reader.
From 'Collected Poems' by Gareth Owen (Macmillan, 2000) Permission requested.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'The Faint Shadow of the Morning Moon' by Yone Noguchi. It's read by Sophie Envis from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'The Shortest Day' by Susan Cooper. It's read by Jan Heron from The Reader.
'The Shortest Day' is published as a picture book, illustrated by Carson Ellis, by Walker Books (2020).
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is an extract from 'The Prelude' by William Wordsworth. It's read by Andrew Forster from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'Rima 23' by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. It's read by Jess Alvarez from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'Snow' by Gillian Clarke. It's read by Sean Perry from The Reader.
From 'Collected Poems' by Gillian Clarke (Carcanet, 1997). Permission requested.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is Sonnet 97 by William Shakespeare. It's read by Peter Doran from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'Christmas Light' by May Sarton. It's read by Kara Orford from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'I Heard a Bird Sing' by Oliver Herford. It's read by Linda Flynn from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'A Fallow Deer at the Lonely House' by Thomas Hardy. It's read by Jess Harrison from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'After the Winter' by Claude McKay. It's read by Nicola Williams from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening' by Robert Frost. It's read by Mary Crotty from The Reader.
From 'The Collected Poems' by Robert Frost (Vintage Classics, 2013). Permission requested.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'A Little More' by Elizabeth Jennings. It's read by Lisa Spurgin from The Reader.
From 'Collected Poems' by Elizabeth Jennings (Carcanet, 2002) Permission requested.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'It Sifts from Leaden Sieves' by Emily Dickinson. It's read by Eve Fineburg.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is from 'In Memoriam' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It's read by Frances Macmillan from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'A Winter's Tale' by D.H. Lawrence. It's read by Julia Youngman from The Reader.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'Ice Storm' by Robert Hayden. It's read by Jane Davis from The Reader.
From 'Collected Poems' by Robert Hayden (Norton, 2013). Permission requested.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.
Today's poem is 'Frost at Midnight' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It's read by Sami Wilson from The Reader.
Today's poem is 'Holly' by Seamus Heaney. It's read by Kath Dodd from The Reader.
From New Selected Poems 1967-1997 by Seamus Heaney (Faber,2014). Permission requested.
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.
Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson
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
This episode contains explicit language (swearing) and discussion of suicide throughout which some listeners may find distressing.
In this episode we’ll hear from two events at Gravity and two different guests linked by their experiences of being on the frontline in responding to fellow humans in moments of crisis.
Tony Schumacher grew up in Huyton in Liverpool, and was a police officer for over a decade before the pressure of the job caused his mental health to fray. He eventually left the force and began writing, which he credits with saving his life. After publishing several novels, Tony wrote a TV script drawing on his experiences in the police, which became ‘The Responder’, a unique, uncompromising major drama series which aired on BBC1 in January 2022. Tony came to Gravity and discussed ‘The Responder’ and his life and career with Greg Jenkins, Young Person’s Mentor at The Reader.
Chris Dowrick is a professor of primary medical care at the University of Liverpool and a practising GP. Chris is the author of the well-known book Beyond Depression, and, more recently, of Reading to Stay Alive: Tolstoy, Hopkins and the Dilemma of Existence. This book draws on case histories of Chris’ patients, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, and poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins to speak powerfully about moments of crisis and desperation. Chris talked via video link at Gravity festival to Philip Davis, Emeritus Professor of English literature at the University of Liverpool.
Tony Schumacher
The Responder on BBC iPlayer
Greg Jenkins on The Reader Podcast (Episode 8)
Chris Dowrick
Reading to Stay Alive: Tolstoy, Hopkins and the Dilemma of Existence, published by Anthem Press
Reading for Life by Philip Davis
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
‘No worst, there is none’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins
‘The Journey’ by Edward Field
The author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce has been a patron and supporter of The Reader for over a decade. During the summer, after his first post-Covid tour of schools around the UK to talk about his new children’s book, Noah’s Gold, Frank met with Jane Davis, Founder and Director of Literature at The Reader, to talk about the huge differences he saw in the children he met. When Frank came to Gravity, he continued to draw attention to the effects of the Covid lockdowns on children, and spoke with fellow author Lissa Evans, and The Reader’s Head of Children and Young People Kara Orford, about how books can help children cope with change by giving them the apparatus for happiness.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Gravity Festival
Frank’s editorial for Books for Keeps online magazine
Lissa Evans
The Reader magazine
Selected Poems by U.A. Fanthorpe
‘Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it's much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!’ Neil Gaiman
If you need inspiration for the perfect bookish gift for a particular person, give this episode a listen. Whether it’s for someone who loves the great outdoors, or for someone who has cared for you this year, or for some bright spark who is always making, doing and creating – Reader staff have recommendations of great books to suit them all. We also have recommendations from the Founder/Director of The Reader, Jane Davis, and from the writer and critic Tomiwa Owolade, who we’ll be hearing from again in a future episode of this podcast. And if you listen right to the end, there’s a festive poem for you.
Merry Christmas to one and all!
Christmas Gift Guide 1: For the person who finds respite in nature
Christmas Gift Guide 2: For the busy person who needs 15 minutes of calm
Christmas Gift Guide 3: For the person who stands by when things get tough
Christmas Gift Guide 4: For the person who teaches, encourages and tries to lead the way
Christmas Gift Guide 5: For the person who writes, creates, experiments, and thinks differently
Buy the books from The Reader Shop at Bookshop.org.
More gift ideas from The Reader
The Reader magazine subscription offer
Read some of Tomiwa Owolade’s articles on Unherd.com
‘For Maia’ by Gary Johnson
When our Young Person’s Mentor Greg spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live on 30 September about Shared Reading, many listeners wrote in to say it was the most inspiring thing they’d ever heard on the radio. We caught up with Greg for an extended conversation about his role at The Reader and to hear more about how Shared Reading fits into this and into Greg’s own story so far. We’ll also hear from another Reader staff member, Sue, who reads a poem by Wordsworth and talks about the powerful and unexpected sense of calm that this old poem can create in her groups.
The Reader on BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live Word Matters project
Young Person’s Mentoring Scheme at The Reader
‘Love After Love’ by Derek Walcott from The Poetry of Derek Walcott 1948-2013 published by Faber & Faber. We have applied for permission of the publishers FSG to read this poem here.
‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802’ by William Wordsworth
‘Spiderweb’ by Kay Ryan Kay Ryan's poem 'Spiderweb' is from her collection Odd Blocks: New & Selected Poems published by Carcanet. We are grateful for the kind permission of the publishers to read it here.
The Reader Podcast is back after an extended break with an episode about being bold, taking risks and keeping an eye out for the unexpected. Gill Smith worked at The Reader’s Storybarn, our interactive play space for children and young people, when it opened in 2016. Since then, Gill’s gone on to enjoy success as an illustrator – her first collaboration, a picture book of Victoria Hislop’s Maria’s Island, was released in June. Gill chatted with Annie from The Reader about reading, where she finds inspiration, and she shared some valuable advice for budding creatives out there.
Maria’s Island by Victoria Hislop, illustrated by Gill Smith, is available now from Walker Books.
We’ve been busy over the summer producing The Reader magazine and a new anthology for National Poetry Day, The Road Not Taken.
‘What If This Road’ by Sheenagh Pugh With thanks to Seren Books for permission to use the poem here and in the anthology The Road Not Taken.
Read the rest of the short story ‘The Lumber Room’ by Saki here.
What makes a poem great for Shared Reading? Again, we take a closer look at a single poem, this time Cecil Day Lewis’ ‘Walking Away’, and hear stories about how it what this poem has meant to group members who have read it together in a Shared Reading setting.
Walking Away
By Cecil Day-Lewis
For Sean
It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day –
A sunny day with the leaves just turning,
The touch-lines new-ruled – since I watched you play
Your first game of football, then, like a satellite
Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away
Behind a scatter of boys. I can see
You walking away from me towards the school
With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free
Into a wilderness, the gait of one
Who finds no path where the path should be.
The hesitant figure, eddying away
Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem,
Has something I never quite grasp to convey
About nature’s give-and-take – the small, the scorching
Ordeals which fire one’s irresolute clay.
I have had worse partings, but none that so
Gnaws at my mind still. Perhaps it is roughly
Saying what God alone could perfectly show –
How selfhood begins with a walking away,
And love is proved in the letting go.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme, it might help to talk about it. A Samaritan is ready to listen, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call Samaritans free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.
The Reader Bookshelf
Find out more about Cecil Day Lewis at the Poetry Foundation
Find out more about The Reader – donate,get involved,join a Shared Reading Group
The title of this episode comes from a poem by award-winning poet, short-story writer, essayist and novelist Kei Miller. Kei was The Reader’s guest at an online event earlier this year to celebrate Sefton’s year as Liverpool’s Borough of Culture, when he read poems from his 2014 collection The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion, and spoke about the inspiration for this collection and his wide-ranging work. You can hear part of the recording of that event in this episode, as well as listening to Erin from The Reader sharing another ‘tried and tested’ poem, ‘Interludes’ by Debjani Chatterjee. Both Kei Miller’s poems and ‘Interludes’ are included on The Reader’s ‘Walking the Earth’ Bookshelf and they allow us to explore ideas of how we use language and poetry to understand landscapes both around and within us.
The Reader Bookshelf
The Reader magazine, Issue 71 – featuring an interview with Dr Iona Heath
Kei Miller’s author page on the Carcanet Press website
Kei Miller’s new essay collection, Things I Have Withheld, at Bookshop.org
Debjani Chatterjee’s author page on the Royal Literary Fund website
‘Ulysses’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Find out more about The Reader – donate,get involved, join a Shared Reading Group
Over the years, staff and volunteers at The Reader have learned that there are five essential values or behaviours that are key to a great Shared Reading experience and one of them is: be kind. The Reader relies on the kindness of authors, who volunteer their time and allow us to use their work; we rely on the kindness of those who begin as strangers and become volunteers running Shared Reading groups around the country; and we rely on the belief that all of us, however different, can tap into a shared humanity through reading together. In this episode, we hear from two authors who have been great supporters of The Reader’s work: Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Joanne Harris. Frank reads his ‘Eulogy for the Lost’, broadcast by Culture Liverpool and BBC Radio Merseyside in March to mark a year since the start of lockdown. Joanne Harris speaks about her novel Orfeia, about grief, loss and the power of stories, and we listen in to a National Prison Radio Shared Reading discussion of one particular story by Joanne, ‘Tea With the Birds’, in which an encounter between two strangers proves transformative.
Liverpool Together: Reflecting on a year of lockdown at the Culture Liverpool website
Frank Cottrell-Boyce on Instagram
Orfeia by Joanne Harris
Jigs and Reels - short stories by Joanne Harris
Listen to more episodes of The Reader on National Prison Radio
Find out more about The Reader – donate, get involved, join a Shared Reading Group
This episode is part of the launch of The Reader’s 2021 ‘Bookshelf’ - a constellation of reading matter which will shape our programming, partnerships and Shared Reading this year. We look at two of the pieces of literature from the Bookshelf - ‘The Promise’, a picture book by Nicola Davies, and ‘The Sycamore’, a poem by Wendell Berry. Both the book and poem make us look afresh at our relationship with the natural world, and the potential power and promise of this is brought out in an interview between author Nicola Davies and The Reader’s Kara Orford, and the words of Shared Reading group member Patricia. We also hear from Clare Ellis from The Reader, who sets the mood with a few lines from Philip Larkin’s poem The Trees.
RELATED LINKS:
Walking the Earth – find out more about The Reader’s Bookshelf for 2021-22
Find out more about The Reader – donate, get involved, join a Shared Reading Group
‘The Trees’ by Philip Larkin
The Promise by Nicola Davies and Laura Carlin
Find out more about the short animated film of The Promise, directed and produced by Chi Thai.
The Peace of Wild Things - selected poems, including ‘The Sycamore’, by Wendell Berry
What makes a poem great for Shared Reading? This episode takes a deep dive into a single poem, a sonnet by William Shakespeare, and tells stories from Shared Reading groups over the years who have read this old poem together and found that it moved them in unexpected ways. There’s an interview with Philip Davis who has witnessed and written about Shared Reading experiences of this sonnet, and there’s an extract from another National Prison Radio programme where Shaun, from The Reader, read Sonnet 29.
RELATED LINKS:
Reading by Philip Davis and Fiona Magee is a recent book exploring how and why literature can improve mental health
Listen to more episodes of The Reader on National Prison Radio
Watch short films about Shared Reading
Maya Angelou speaks about Sonnet 29 in a 1994 episode of BBC2’s The Late Show (@ 21.15mins).
The Reader is a registered charity and we rely on the generous support of individuals and organisations to help us change lives through Shared Reading around the UK. Please visit www.thereader.org.uk to donate and find out how you can get involved with our work.
The Reader dips its toes into the pool of podcasting, aiming to bring you a regular taste of what our Reading Revolution is all about.
The Reader brings thousands of people together every week to read aloud from books and poems and talk about the shared experience of reading. Our first episode will give you a taste of Shared Reading as we listen in (thanks to National Prison Radio) to a small group read a short story about a dolls house. Elsewhere, the Founder/Director of The Reader, Jane Davis, tells the deputy literary editor of The Times that he’s a very odd man. And Reader staff share their literary earworms – the lines of poems or stories that accompany them as they go about their lives.
The Reader is a registered charity and we rely on the generous support of individuals and organisations to help us change lives through Shared Reading around the UK. Please visit www.thereader.org.uk to donate and find out how you can get involved with our work.