Liverpool Year of Reading

2023 is Liverpool Year of Reading and marks the start of the second Liverpool Literacy Cycle. The cycle aims to engage everyone and raise awareness of the importance of literacy skills in everyday life whilst promoting creative activity such as writing and performing. The focus shifts each year through reading, writing and oracy amplifying and highlighting annual festivals and initiatives.

We have an extensive network of literacy partners who help us share information and a core planning team who manage the year and organise additional events and activities with the LYOR badge. The team are already collating the 2023 calendar and brainstorming ways to refresh our approach to reading by constantly seeking new ways to extend the reach of our literacy revolution. We are all delighted that this collective effort is once again focused on vocabulary, books and reading. We will be working with schools, universities, authors, poets, charities, businesses and organisations to get the message out: Liverpool Loves Reading!

The Year of Reading was officially launched on 28th January at Liverpool Central Library by Lesley Martin-Wright, the High Sheriff for Merseyside. There were over forty performers at the launch, poets, storytellers, authors reading from their books and school children acting out stories. It was a great day with a fantastic buzz and atmosphere. At the event, we also launched the 2022 Liverpool Year of Spoken Word book which documents that year in images and poems, available to buy online https://www.beatlesliverpoolandmore.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

We are lucky to have The Reader based at The Mansion House, Calderstones Park in Liverpool; you should visit to see what a great facility this is for the city. We are hoping to hold some of our planning meetings there and at Sefton Park library during the year. There is so much to do….

The Liverpool Year of Reading team are excited to share another year of events in libraries, schools and Merseyside communities supporting reading as a skill and promoting reading for pleasure.

We send best wishes to the Wrexham Carnival of Words in this your 9th festival celebrating reading, writing and the spoken word.

#LivLitCycle #LiverpoolReads

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