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Home | What is Liverpool Reads? | Launch Press Release | Management Committee |
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Liverpool joins Britain’s biggest ever reading project Liverpool Reads... and many of the library services in the North West are joining in Britain’s largest ever reading project with the backing of the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England, it was announced today. (Thursday 9th November 2006) Small Island Read 2007 – which takes place from 11 January 2007 – builds on the success of the annual Liverpool Reads... and Bristol Great Reading Adventure initiatives, and brings in new partners from Aye Write! The Glasgow Book Festival and Hull Library Service. Tens of thousands of people from Scotland to Cornwall are expected to join the project and read Small Island by Andrea Levy. Small Island Read 2007 is linked to the 2007 commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the passing of the Slave Trade Abolition Bill – a year that is being used to explore the legacy of slavery and its continuing impact upon modern Britain. Andrea Levy’s widely acclaimed and award-winning novel describes the arrival in post-war Britain of black Jamaican immigrants, the descendants of enslaved Africans. It addresses the themes of identity, racial awareness, forgiveness, ignorance and survival with humour, high drama, anger and pathos, providing an unforgettable read in 2007. In announcing their support for Small Island Read 2007, Adrian Tinniswood, of the Heritage Lottery Fund, and Nick Capaldi, of Arts Council England, commented: We have supported two Bristol reading projects already and are delighted to be supporting this national project. It is excellent news that Liverpool has joined the partnership. Remembering the victims of the slave trade is essential to everyone’s lives. Just as important is celebrating the diversity of modern Britain. They added: The mass reading project – and the associated arts and heritage projects – is a fitting start to the 2007 commemorations. In addition to the thousands of copies of the book available for loan in the participating cities and regions, readers will be able to obtain a fully illustrated guide, which provides information on the author and background material on the themes of slavery and migration. Books for younger readers are also being used as part of the project to ensure all age groups can take part. These are Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee Boy and Mary Hoffman’s 'Amazing Grace'. Jane Davis, chair of Liverpool Reads..., said today: Small Island Read 2007 will encourage lots of Liverpudlians to think about the impact of West Indian and other migrant communities on our city. We are delighted to be working with the other cities on such an exciting and inspirational project, and will be running reading and arts projects in the many communities that make up Liverpool from the Merseyside Caribbean Community, to the Walton, Croxteth, and Clubmoor youth organisations. She added: Liverpool Reads... has already shown how mass-reading initiatives can engage a wide range of people in a single book, inspire discussion and debate, encourage more reading, writing and creativity, enhance social capital through the building of networks across the community, promote learning about our heritage, and be fun for all those involved. For Small Island Read 2007:
Andrea Levy said today: I am very excited that Small Island is the focus of this ambitious mass-reading project. I feel deeply honoured that it has been chosen in the year that commemorates the ending of the slave trade, and that the novel, which is set in the 1940s, is being used as the springboard to look back to the important issues of slavery and its aftermath. It has always been one of the aims of my writing to make the history of African-Caribbean people in this country more visible and to show their story to be an important part of British history. I hope everyone who takes part in the Small Island Read 2007 really enjoys the experience.
Contacts Small Island Read 2007 Bea Colley, Liverpool Reads Coordinator Andrew Kelly, director of the Great Reading Adventure The Small Island Read 2007 website will be launched in January 2007 at www.smallislandread.com. Small Island Read 2007 is an initiative of: Liverpool Reads – Liverpool Culture Company, Paul Hamlyn Foundation Small Island Read 2007 is supported by The National Lottery through Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund, Liverpool Culture Company, Bristol City Council, Business West, Aye Write! The Glasgow Book Festival.
Liverpool Reads Small Island related links www.liverpool.gov.uk/Leisure_and_culture/Whats_on
Download Liverpool Reads Small Island Launch Press Release here. |
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