NEW WRITING / BOOK TALK / NEWS AND REVIEWS

THE

READER

Published by The University o Liverpool School o English.

No. 34 SUMMER 2009

Printed and bound in the European Union by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow

SUBMISSIONS

The Reader

genuinely welcomes submissions o poetry, ction, essays, read-ings and thought. We publish proessional writers and absolute beginners.Send your manuscript printed on one side only, with SAE to:The Reader Oce, 19 Abercromby Square, Liverpool L69 7ZG, UK.

EDITOR

Philip Davis

DEPUTY EDITOR

Sarah Coley

CO-EDITORS

Maura Kennedy

Angela MacmillanEleanor McCannBrian Nellist Christopher RoutledgeJohn Scrivener

NEW YORK EDITOR

Enid Stubin

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Les Murray

ADDRESS

The Reader MagazineThe Reader Organisation19 Abercromby SquareLiverpool L69 7ZG

magazine@thereader.org.uk

WEBSITE

www.thereader.org.uk

BLOG

www.thereaderonline.co.uk

DISTRIBUTION

See p. 128

ISBN

978-0-9558733-3-1

ABOUT THE READER ORGANISATION

Jane Davis, Director, The Reader Organisation

A Reading Revolution!

‘People are dying – it is no metaphor – for lack of something real tocarry home when day is done.’

Saul Bellow,

Herzog

We used this quotation in 1997 in the very f irst issue of

The Reader.

We believe literature is for life, not just for courses. That’s why we’re working in day centres, old people’s homes, community groups,hospitals, drug rehabs, refugee centres, public libraries, schools and children’shomes and many other places to bring the pleasure and value of reading to asmany people as possible. We f ind it easy to imagine a near future where literature graduates leave univer-sity to work in banks, hospitals, retail, management and human resources. Their job? To bring books to life, opening and sharing the centuries of vital informationcontained within them, making sure this amazingly rich content is available toeveryone.

‘It moves you. I mean it hits you inside where it meets you and meanssomething.’