Liverpool Reads Small Island

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This page was last updated:15 July 2007

Free Adult Workshops Book early to avoid disappointment!
Liverpool - A City of Stories -
Taking Andrea Levy's Small Island as a stimulus, this workshop will explore some of Liverpool's tales from the point of view of participants. How has Liverpool changed over the past hundred years - and how do we feel about those changes?
Follow link for booking details...

Cover shot of 'Small Island' by Andrea Levy

In 2007 Liverpool is reading Small Island by Andrea Levy.

Small Island is the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Whitbread Novel Award, the Orange of Oranges Prize, and the Commonwealth Writer's Prize. It focuses on West Indian migration to Britain after the Second World War, and on themes of love, hate, racism, and identity.

This year Liverpool Reads... is working with another mass reading project: Bristol and the South West's Great Reading Adventure. We are also working with partners from Hull and Glasgow in the biggest mass-reading initiative that has ever taken place in Britain. For more information visit our collaborative website.

In addition, we will also be using the book Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah for young people and emergent readers. This book follows the journey of a young boy to London, escaping from the Ethiopian/Eritrean conflict.

Cover shot of 'Refugee Boy' by Benjamin Zephaniah

STRANGERS AND STRANGE WORLDS
READERS' DAY

We would like to invite you to a very special event being run by The Reader and Archbishop Blanch School on July 7th.

The Strangers and Strange Worlds readers' day explores issues of identity and other worlds in literature with a mouth watering mix of workshops, panel discussion, readings, prizes and food.

Take your pick from a wide variety of workshops including: Getting into Journalism with the Guardian's Hannah Poole; or a journey into the childhood of author Brian Jacques. You can explore the world of books such as The Jungle Book, The House of Mirth, Enduring Love and The Marriages Between Zones 3, 4 & 5 in the company of Reader staff. You can even find out the answer to the question 'Do you speak Scouse?' with Dr Andrew Hamer's lively talk on Merseyside accents.

Download further details and booking form here.

We hope to see you there.
Katie Peters
Marketing and PR Intern
The Reader
19 Abercromby Square
Liverpool
L69 7ZG
Tel: 0151 794 2830

Benjamin Zephaniah comes to Liverpool as part of the Writing on the Wall Festival.

Benjamin Zephaniah will be appearing as part of this year's Writing on the Wall Festival at the Philharmonic. At the moment, Liverpool Reads does not have any firm plans for Benjamin to visit separately so don't miss this opportunity to see the author of Refugee Boy. Read more here.

Don't miss your chance to see Benjamin Zephaniah, author of Refugee Boy. Friday 18th May - 7.00 pm.
Tickets £13.50/£10.00 - Available from Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Box Office on 0151 709 3789. See www.writingonthewall.org.uk for more details of the Writing on the Wall programme.

Also, best-selling author, Kazuo Ishiguro is coming to Liverpool.

Kazuo Ishiguro, best-selling author of 'The Remains of the Day' and 'Never Let Me Go' comes to Liverpool on Saturday 2nd June - 6pm. Ishiguro will be in conversation with Sean Matthews and reading from new work. He will appear in The Great Hall, Liverpool Hope University. All friends of Liverpool Reads are entitled to a £1 discount on the general admission to this unique event. To claim your discount, please quote “Liverpool Reads” when ordering your ticket at the Box Office. More details here.

Liverpool Reads’ Kazuo Ishiguro competition
Win a free ticket to a reading by the Booker Prize winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, 2nd June in Liverpool.

Liverpool Reads and Liverpool Hope University are giving away 10 free copies of Never Let Me Go and free tickets to the reading by Kazuo Ishiguro. Read competition details here.

Cover shot of Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Work from the Sola Arts New Artists Project

Sola Arts New Artists Project

Work from the Sola Arts New Artists Project which is currently being exhibited in Rotunda College, Liverpool.
Read more here.

World Book Day - Thursday 1st March

Volunteers handed out final copies of Small Island on Bold Street in
Liverpool wishing people 'Happy World Book Day!'

Handing out copies of Small Island on World Book Day

Readers!

Whether you read one book a year or one book a day... The Beyond the Book project wants to hear from you!!!! They want to know your thoughts on books and reading.

Find out more about the project at: www.beyondthebookproject.org

Small Island Read 2007 Survey

It is great that you are getting into Small Island with Liverpool Reads. We would like you to take a moment to tell us what you think about this year's read. This will help us to evaluate what we are doing and plan for future reads. Data will be reported anonymously and in aggregate form, and your contact details will not be passed to any third parties.

To complete our 18 question survey please follow this link.

Thank you.

Thoughts on Refugee Boy

Poppy has contacted Liverpool Reads from her school, with thoughts on Refugee Boy.

I think that Refugee boy is a very powerful book which outlines the horrors of war in Ethiopia and Eritrea. But, it is told from a child's point of view. This is certainly a different way of doing things because some people may ask, what do children know about war?

Read the full article here.
And if you feel inspired to share your thoughts you can do so here.

Launch of Liverpool Reads Small Island
Andrea Levy with Beatlife drummers from Windsor High Primary School at the Albert Dock

Andrea Levy with Beatlife drummers from Windsor High Primary School

Free books!!!
This year, we have thousands of free copies of Small Island to distribute across the city. We also have reading guides and teaching packs to help with your enjoyment of the books.

You can collect your free books and reading guides from the following places from the 11th of January 2007 onwards:

All Liverpool libraries
Some Merseyside libraries
(Please check with your local branch or contact Bea Colley - 0151 7942291 for a list of participating libraries)

There will also be some school drop offs in the early part of January
2007.

Get involved.

We want you to join the country's mass read so we’ve included a list of ways to get started and resources to download not to mention the FREE book giveaway.

We also want you to get in touch, so we’ve made it possible for you to e-mail us with or without an e-mail account.

Find out more about the public events we have planned plus some very exciting school and community projects by using this site to navigate your way into this year's Liverpool reads...

Liverpool Reads... constitution.

Liverpool Reads is now a Constituted Organisation with a committee of seven
members. This committee makes contributions to, and supports the work of, the
Liverpool Reads coordinator in promoting each year's chosen 'read'.

The responsibilities of the Management Committee members are outlined in the Liverpool Reads draft Constitution document.

There will be many exciting reading groups, public readings and school and community projects for you to become involved in so please keep checking the website for updates.