I Am A Reader is go!
It’s a hive of excited activity in the Libraries and Culture team as we get ready to launch our I Am A Reader project, following the news of our successful bid for funding from Arts Council England. But what exactly is I Am A Reader? Inspire Libraries and Culture Officer Michelle Dunstan takes us through the ideas behind the project, the exciting things it will involve and why the team are so passionate about exploring and celebrating the creativity of reading . . .
How it all began
A real perk of our role in delivering events and programmes that get people excited about reading, is the chance it gives us to engage with such a variety of passionate book lovers. Over the years, we’ve talked to so many readers, and one of the things that often strikes us is just how creative reading is. For the readers we’ve enjoyed talking to, once a book is in their hands, it’s clear that it’s far from merely ink on paper – it’s a portal to different worlds, multiple lives, and a range of emotions.
This got us to pondering a big question: while the creativity of writing a wonderful piece of fiction isn’t in question, are we failing to recognise – and indeed celebrate - that reading the same piece of fiction is a creative act in itself? After all, doesn’t it require huge leaps of imagination to bring those stories to life in our own minds as readers?
And if reading is merely a passive act, why does the way we read differ from reader to reader, and why do we take away different things from the same book depending on who we are? As the writer Angela Carter said: “Reading a book is like rewriting it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.”
Unsurprisingly, the idea of the reader as creator sparked a great deal of talk in the team. For instance, it was fascinating to discover that while some of us need to really visualise every aspect of story to enjoy it, other simply don’t.
But while this was all well and good, if we really believed that readers play a big role in creativity, we needed to find a way of exploring and celebrating the concept with a wider audience . . .
From an idea to a plan
When it came to turning the ideas into a programme of activity that would capture the imaginations of our audiences, it was important to us from the outset that readers would feel at the heart of it, that they would leave the experience feeling they had been part of something truly creative, and that there would be some kind of beautiful product at the end which captured the creativity of reading and could reach an even wider audience.
After much development work, we believe the final plan for I Am A Reader will help us answer those aims, with elements including:
a team of wonderful writers who will work with a range of readers to not only talk about reading and creativity, but who will also be co-commissioned by those very readers to create a story especially for – and with input from – each of them, which will be published in an inspiring anthology
a digital programme making use of social media to engage wider audiences in the reading conversation
the commissioning of a high-quality visual artist to turn the insights found during the process into beautiful illustrations that convey the creativity of reading, and which will become a touring exhibition
creating a legacy that we could launch across the literature sector to celebrate and raise the profile of all readers as creative – whoever they are and whatever style they read.
So, the plan for I Am A Reader was born. Now, we just had to make it happen. . .
Show me the money
Our application to gain the funding we needed to make I Am A reader a reality was pulled together in the midst of a second lockdown, and with only a short window to make our bid, the pressure was on.
But if there’s one thing that funding applications force you to do, it’s to really focus your thinking about your project, it aims, its audiences and exactly how you’ll make it happen. And the good thing about percolating an idea over a number of years, is that a lot of the foundations are already there, and with a genuine passion and enthusiasm for the concept, we were committed to getting it over the line, which with just under a day to spare – we did.
Now, all we had to do was wait and see . . .
When ideas become a reality
We received the fantastic news that our bid had been successful a couple of weeks earlier than expected, so it came as bit of a shock – albeit a wonderful one! But after the initial elated celebrations that follow a successful bid, there is always an ‘eek’ moment when you realise that you now have to make it happen. And with I Am A Reader it’s certainly an ambitious ‘it’. . .
But when you really believe in something like we do with I Am A Reader, work with a great team, and have the backing of a wonderful funder to give you confidence, we’re raring to go. Yes, it’s going to take commitment hard work and - above all - bags of creativity. But we should be just fine with that – we are readers after all . . .