Getting into Reading in Runcorn

Helen Tookey

On Saturday The Reader ran a readers’ day at the fantastic Brindley theatre and arts centre in Runcorn, an award-winning venue overlooking the restored canal. As one of the organisers, I spent most of the day behind an information desk rather than getting to participate – but from what I could see, everyone seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the day. Things kicked off with a panel discussion about life-changing books, followed by workshops on a range of great books from Dickens’ Bleak House and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre to Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Andrea Levy’s Orange Prize-winning novel Small Island. The whole day was designed to be as accessible as possible to a wide range of people, not just experienced readers of ‘difficult’ literature, and it was good to hear people making comments such as ‘I haven’t read Bleak House, but I really want to give it a go now!’. At lunchtime, the bookstall, provided by local family-run Curiosity Books, was doing a brisk trade, and former Cheshire poet laureate Andrew Rudd gave a reading from his new collection. Highlights of the day were a personal and thought-provoking talk by Stuart Murray on books, autism, and the ways in which we think about and write about ‘disability’; and a reading by award-winning poet Moniza Alvi. Crossing boundaries between reality and surreality, between the comic and the poignant, and between Moniza’s two heritages and ‘homes’, England and Pakistan, the reading was an inspiring way to end the day. Our next readers’ day is in Liverpool on July 7th and also promises to be a great day for all keen readers, so if you live nearby, why not come along? For details and booking form, go to the home page of The Reader magazine.