West Midlands Readers' Network
Hereford Readers' Afternoon
(Posted Dec 2, 11:26 AM)
The Hereford Readers’ Afternoon was a terrific success. Anne-Marie Dossett has written the following short account:
Herefordshire Libraries Readers’ Afternoon
The first Readers’ Afternoon organised by Herefordshire Libraries in Partnership with the West Midlands Readers network took place on Saturday 1st December 2007.
The afternoon featured Clare Brown author of The Creation Myths and Dream Laboratory, both published by Bloomsbury, and Paul McDonald author of Kiss me Softly Amy Turtle and Surviving Sting, both published by Tindal Street Press.
Jonathan Davidson of the West Midlands Readers Network was compere and kept the ambitious programme of discussions and readings almost to the timetable. Despite the fact the it was a very busy weekend in Herefordshire, with lots of Christmas school and village fetes happening and the Hay Festival Winter Weekend, 42 people attended the event.
The afternoon included discussion groups on topics such as Should we take comedy more seriously and Escapism V Reality. Paul McDonald had everyone laughing when he read the opening chapter of one of his novels which was set in a Walsall hospital.
There were four very different presentations called Our Reading Lives, in which people talked about the different stages of their life and what they had been reading. From the tattered childhood picture book to the much-loaned reference book, these short talks really conveyed in their individual ways a passion for books and the wonder of reading. They certainly inspired many in the audience to add yet more titles to their own personal reading lists.
Votes were cast for the best and worst readers’ group book- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was the clear winner whilst Toast by Nigel Slater was voted the worst book. There was a literary quiz with a £10 book voucher prize kindly donated by Waterstones.
The majority of people who came to the event were in readers groups already but there were a few people looking to join a group. They will now be put in touch with a suitable local readers group.
The final act came from the Harold Street Readers, when they performed their very own light-hearted poem about readers groups, which they had written especially for the day.
Comments from readers
“ It was enjoyable, informative and fun but I thought it was a shame about the paucity of male readers!! Well done for organising it all; the two authors were great and I found Lara’s reading life talk completely mesmerising”
“It was great to get in some thought-provoking discussion on a weekend, and both authors were interesting and guided the debates well.”
“I hadn’t really known what to expect so it was lovely to be part of a nice friendly crowd of like-minded people and to get to talk and hear about books for a couple of hours!! When you’re organising one in the future I’ll make sure to keep my diary free for it!”
“When are you organising the next one? I will definitely come”
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— Robby Byrd · Aug 21, 03:57 AM · #