The Reader

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 diff...

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...

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...

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 t...

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 prep...

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:  Mo...

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...

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 g...

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 l...

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 a...

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...

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 lo...

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 w...

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...

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.