Interest area: Literature

Penny Readings at Home

The Reader’s seasonal celebration of reading, music and performance, the Penny Readings, is back for another year in a new format.

Join them as they broadcast the annual event live from the Mansion House, from the comfort of your own home.

Inspired by Charles Dickens’ public readings of the same name, the Penny Readings is a joyous celebration of storytelling, song, performance and community not to be missed.

Volunteers, group members, customers and the public are all invited to enjoy the show, which will be hosted by their founder, Jane Davis, alongside Greg Harwood-Jenkins from their young person’s team (fresh from his recent Radio 5 Live interview).

Full line up to be revealed over coming weeks – follow @thereaderorg on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook for details or sign up to receive updates from The Reader here.

Spoken Word 9

The Reader’s Spoken Word event for December will feature Vicky Foster, Roy, Cath Holland, Saint Vespaluus and Janaya Pickett

Spoken Word events encompass a huge variety of writing and performance styles, from the intimately personal and heart-breaking to the uproariously funny and celebratory. Poetry in all its forms will be the main feature, along with memoirs, stories, monologues and any number of almost-indefinable types of prose!

They recommend this event for adults 18+. Doors 7pm. The Mansion House is wheelchair accessible, for access enquiries please contact them at tickets@thereader.org.uk.

A licensed bar, a beautiful venue and always a lovely audience. Be there!

A Lovely Word featuring Amerah Saleh

A Lovely Word is Liverpool’s most eclectic poetry night, featuring two halves of open mic poets, and a headliner beginning the first half. Hosted by Alex Ferguson and Lyndsay Price, this free event is a fun, relaxed and friendly evening of performance poetry.

The event is free and held Downstairs at the Everyman, 2 December, 7.30pm.

A spoken word artist championing the Birmingham Poetry scene, Amerah Saleh’s writing mixes passion with fiery intelligence and an uncanny insight into what it is to be human.

Poetry has taken her around the world sharing stories with people and also gathering them for her own suitcase when she needs them. She is the Co-Founder of Verve Poetry Press and a General Manager at Beatfreeks. Amerah released her first collection called ‘I Am Not From Here’ in April 2018.

Amerah Saleh has performed around the country at events and festivals and has received commissions from Sampad, Birmingham 2022 (Commonwealth Games), BMAG, mac Birmingham, Channel 4, Eastern Electronic Festival, TedxBrum, Library of Birmingham, REP Theatre and Watford Palace.

She has performed around the world, sharing her stories and connecting with people. She has performed and created pieces in Birmingham, London, Oxford, Preston, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, Bosnia, New York, Budapest, Austria, Belgium and San Francisco.

TAKE PART

Whether you are a new poet performing for the first time or a seasoned poet who wants to try out some new stuff – sign up to perform by EITHER;

I) turning up at 7.30 in the bistro (10 slots available)

II) emailing alovelywordpodcast@gmail.com (BEFORE 26th November) (10 slots available), with a confirmation of your full name, mobile number

When signing up to perform, you are signing up to these principles of the open mic.

Between Two Islands

Between Two Islands is an evening of poetry and conversation, exploring the relationship between Bahrain, Britain and the British Bahrainis caught with a foot on either island.

In January–February 2021, fourteen Bahrainis living in the UK, amongst them second-generation immigrants, migrants, students and diasporans, came together to write poetry exploring their experiences as a community far from their heart’s homeland.

The workshops were funded by Arts Council England and led to the publication of the Between Two Islands anthology and The Future soundscape. It is the first Bahraini community arts project of its kind in Britain.

Now performing a mix of poems from the anthology and new materials in both English and Arabic, join the poets at Chapters of Us for a conversation on how new community links are forged, and to explore questions of homeland and language in the midst of the pandemic.

The event will be live with an intimate audience in Liverpool and broadcast digitally.

Produced by Ali Al-Jamri and Taher Adel, and hosted by Nasima Begum. With performances by and conversation with Ali Al-Jamri, Taher Adel, Fatema Abuidrees, Zaynab Al-Khawaja, Mohamed Arab, Maryam AlSaleh, and Jenan Alhasabi.

Chester Literature Festival 2021

Chester Literature Festival will return in autumn 2021. Benjamin Zephaniah is this year’s Artist in Residence, and his work will be emblazoned across Storyhouse.

The festival returns to Storyhouse this autumn with three weeks of fun and thought-provoking events, performances and conversations.

This year’s festival, which is one of the longest-running annual literature events in the country, takes place from 6-19 November with a packed programme of visiting poets, writers, broadcasters, wordsmiths and actors.

Robin Ince – The Importance of B...

Popular comedian and presenter, Robin Ince comes to us to talk about his new book, The Importance of Being Interested. Robin joins The Reader on his 100 Bookshop Tour where he’ll be signing books and explaining why Science should be for everyone – including enthusiastic amateurs.

Tickets are pay what you feel. Copies of The Importance of Being Interested can be bought in advance and collected on the day or extra copies will be available to purchase from The Reader Shop.

About The Importance of Being Interested

‘A delightful and scintillating hymn to science.’ Carlo Rovelli

Comedian Robin Ince quickly abandoned science at school, bored by a fog of dull lessons and intimidated by the barrage of equations. But, twenty years later, he fell in love and he now presents one of the world’s most popular science podcasts. Every year he meets hundreds of the world’s greatest thinkers.

In this erudite and witty book, Robin reveals why scientific wonder isn’t just for the professionals. Filled with interviews featuring astronauts, comedians, teachers, quantum physicists, neuroscientists and more – as well as charting Robin’s own journey with science – The Importance of Being Interested explores why many wrongly think of the discipline as distant and difficult.

From the glorious appeal of the stars above to why scientific curiosity can encourage much needed intellectual humility, this optimistic and profound book will leave you filled with a thirst for intellectual adventure.

Gravity Festival

Gravity is a new festival taking place online and in person from 5 – 7 November, and hosted by The Reader.

Taking its theme from writer, Jeanette Winterson, who wrote: ‘Inside books there is perfect space and it is that space which allows the reader to deal with the normal problems of gravity’, the hybrid literature and wellbeing festival aims to create a place where the serious problems of life can be spoken about, cried over and laughed at.

A weekend of headline talks, panel discussions, Shared Reading groups and wellbeing workshops will address the inevitable toughness that life in the Covid-era throws at us through literature, laughter, art and beyond.

The programme is part online and part in person, with physical events taking place at the Mansion House in Liverpool’s Calderstones Park.

Friday 5 November

Reading with Care online, 1.30pm

Ways to Care online, 5pm

Tea and cake with friends from the North in person, 3pm

Saturday 6 November

Yoga for Mindfulness in person,11am

Ways to Grieve online,12noon

One Step At A Time in person, 12noon

Homer’s Guide to Being Alive Now online and in person, 3pm

Ways to be Alone online, 5pm

(M)otherhood with Pragya Agarwal online and in person, 5pm

An evening with Jimmy McGovern, talking Time with Erwin James and Kate Bramhall online and in person, 7pm

Sunday 7 November

Panel Discussion: Caring, and Reading, during Covid-19 online and in person, 11am

Ways to Cope online,12noon

One Step At A Time in person, 12noon

Not Always A Happy Ending: Maxine Peake reads from Hamlet and Happy Days online and in person, 3pm

Ways to Grow Old online, 5pm

Perfect Crime – the all day crim...

Join Perfect Crime for a full day of exclusive events with some of the biggest and most exciting names in the world of crime writing.

Crime writers appearing: Ann Cleeves, Sophie Hannah, Elly Griffiths, Mel Sherratt, M W Craven, David Jackson, Martin Edwards, Margaret Murphy, Caz Finlay, Rhiannon Ward, Susanna Beard, Amanda Brooke, Heather Burnside, Barry Forshaw, Prof James Grieve.

Schedule:

9 – 9.45am: Registration

10 – 11am: Murder on the Mersey: Margaret Murphy (moderator), Caz Finlay, David Jackson, Amanda Brooke

Liverpool is a city steeped in culture and history – but it is also a city of stark contrasts, and its dark side has inspired many authors, from literary giants to saga writers. Join us for Murder on the Mersey, where four local (and international!) crime writers, Amanda Brooke, David Jackson, Ashley Dyer and Caz Finlay will discuss the impact of this beautiful and often troubled city on their writing.

11:15 – 12:15pm: Writing in the Margins: Ann Cleeves, Elly Griffiths, Rhiannon Ward (Chair)

Ann Cleeves, Diamond Dagger winner and author of the Vera and Shetland novels, in conversation with Elly Griffiths. Chaired by Rhiannon Ward, these two fabulous writers will discuss the marginal/coastal locations in their crime novels, touching on the importance of nature, isolation and forgotten communities in their writing.

12:15 – 1:00pm: Lunch

1:00 – 2:00pm: Gritty and Gripping: Mel Sherratt, Heather Burnside, Noelle Holten, Caz Finlay (moderator)

What makes a book unputdownable? What makes a reader keep turning the pages? Gritty and gripping are just some of the words used to describe the novels of these three fantastic authors. Chaired by Caz Finlay, these bestselling authors will discuss just how they put the grit and grip into their thrillers, and what they think keeps their readers coming back for more.

2:15 – 3:15pm: Golden Age Fiction: Sophie Hannah and Martin Edwards

CWA Diamond Dagger winner Martin Edwards is an authority on British crime fiction, awarded the Edgar, Agatha, Macavity, and HRF Keating Awards for his non-fiction book The Golden Age of Murder. He is also follows in the footsteps of Agatha Christie, as current Chair of the Detection Club.

Sophie Hannah is a multi-award-winning, international bestselling author of psychological chillers, and a dedicated Agatha Christie fan. For almost forty years after her death, Christie’s family famously rebuffed any suggestion that they might pass the authorial baton to another author yet, to date, Sophie has written four Poirot ‘continuation’ novels, with the Christies’ full blessing.

These two clearly have a lot to talk about. And if you like your murder framed in a more elegant era, this is a must-see!

3:15 – 4:00pm: Signings and Social: Your chance to mix with fellow attendees and some of our special author guests, buy the latest crime fiction releases from our authors, and have your books signed.

also

3:15 – 4:00pm: Crime Writing workshop with David Jackson

Crafting the Killer Pitch: As novelists of commercial fiction, we are in the business of selling ideas – to agents, to publishers and, ultimately, to readers. Our chances of success increase dramatically if we can express those ideas in ways that are brief and snappy and carry a punch that sends our intended audience reeling.

In this short workshop David Jackson describes techniques that will help you in devising story pitches that have exactly that tight, powerful focus. TO ATTEND THE WORKSHOP CHOOSE AS AN ADD-ON TO THE EVENT WHEN YOU BUY YOUR PERFECT CRIME TICKET

4:00 – 5:00pm: Truth and Lies: Ann Cleeves and Prof James Grieve

What is the truth behind the fiction? Professor James Grieves’s long career in forensic pathology has taken him around the globe and involved a number of high-profile cases. Prof Grieves has also brought the weight of his extensive real-life knowledge and experience to bear on panel discussions between authors and scientists across the UK. So, what does he make of writers’ attempts to bring realism to their fictional crimes? Find out in a fascinating and revealing chat between these two friends.

5:15 -6:15pm: Mind Games: M W Craven, Margaret Murphy, Susanna Beard, Barry Forshaw (moderator)

The psychology of the murderous mind has fascinated readers since Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, and crime readers demand psychological depth in contemporary mysteries. But why are we so obsessed with damaged psychologies and the criminal mind? And what is it like to get into the mind of a killer? Barry Forshaw talks to three bestselling authors who really put the psycho into their psychological fiction.

 

Outdoor Trail – Harvey Slumfenbu...

The Storybarn is thrilled to be partnering with Walker Books to bring families a brand new self-elf outdoor story trail around Calderstones Park this Christmas.

Father Christmas has one final, almost-forgotten, gift left to deliver – but the reindeers are sick in bed and Harvey Slumfenburger lives on the top of the Roly Poly Mountain, which is far, far away. How will Father Christmas deliver the gift? Perhaps by boat or helicopter, buggie or hot air balloon?

Bundle up, put on wellies and bring your family on a festive and fully accessible trail around Calderstones Park, based on John Burningham’s classic picture book; Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present.

Follow the path marked on the map to complete the activities, and help Father Christmas delivery his very last present.

Sessions cost £12.99 for a family, and each child in your group will receive a map to take part (they’ll let you decide who qualifies as the young adventurers in your party!)

As you reach the end of the trail, each family will receive a gift-wrapped copy of Harvery Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present to take home, share and enjoy for many Christmases to come (RRP £6.99).

Storybarn Welly Walks

Combining the whimsy of The Storybarn with the exciting heritage of Calderstones Park, The Reader invite you to join them for Storybarn Welly Walks.

Each walk will be based on a heritage element and be combined with a gorgeous picture book.

Sessions take place on Saturdays throughout the year, at 10am, 11.30am and 2pm

Saturday 16 October 2021 – Harvest

Join them for a walk around the park, comparing harvests at three different points in our history. What did it look like in the Stone age and Victorian times? How is it different from today?  Join them as they journey through these harvests, share stories and have a blast!

Saturday 22 January 2022 – World War Two

Imagine what Liverpool was like during the Second World War and meet some of the brave characters from history including Calderstones Park’s very own canine war hero, Jett of Iada.

Saturday 19 March 2022 – Edwardian Children at the Park

What was park life like for Edwardian children growing up in Liverpool before the advent of scooters, mobile phones and even climbing frames – and what on earth did they do before the introduction of the Ice Cream Parlour?! Travel back in time with our Storyhunters and find out!

Infants under-1 go free but still require a ticket.