ABOUT US

The Reader exists to promote the good in literature, with the belief that reading can be serious and fun, life-enhancing and creative for everyone.
We run three distinct but connected programmes:

•    publication of The Reader magazine,
•    promotion of high quality live literature events
•    participation in our outreach and educational projects.

The organisation has grown out of the magazine, which was found by literature teachers in the Continuing Education programme at the University of Liverpool in 1997. Free from the constraints of exams or accreditation, readers aged 18 to 80 from all educational backgrounds – or none at all – were sharing difficulties and enthusiasms in what seemed a unique community. There was a sense of exhilaration: with growing confidence they were reading big and daunting works together. The desire to keep that spirit alive is a crucial factor in everything we do.