Introducing Professor Frank Cottrell Boyce…and more Unforgotten Coat success

Here at The Reader Organisation we're reading a range of very interesting things on a daily basis, but we were especially thrilled to read this great piece in the Education Guardian all about TRO patron, supporter and great friend Frank Cottrell Boyce becoming Professor of Reading and Communication - the first professorship of its kind in the country - at Liverpool Hope University.  

Frank's appointment to the professorial position came about thanks to his involvement with our Hope Readers project, specifically through a series of Faculty of Education Level C keynote lectures on the subject of 'Why Books Matter' that he delivered during the past academic year. In the prestigious role, Frank hopes to pass on the key message of reading for pleasure to trainee teachers, who he will be helping to coach, in order to reinvent the role of reading in schools from a purely educational purpose to one that also includes reading for sheer enjoyment. He explains:

"That was why I wanted to get to Hope and spread the word and get teachers reading again. Sometimes people don't know what to read; it's a question of sharing what's good."

The article also highlights Frank's journey as an author and storyteller, bringing up some incredibly intriguing anecdotes and his most frequently asked questions - as well as ones that are slightly more unpredictable - from the talks he has given to school children with The Reader Organisation.

And there's even more reason for Frank and The Reader Organisation to celebrate as we've also received the news that The Unforgotten Coat - the story that Frank wrote exclusively for Our Read 2011 - has made the longlist for the Guardian children's fiction prize 2012. The prize is to be awarded in November, so we're all keeping our fingers crossed...The Guardian is on the lookout for children and young people to submit 200 word reviews of the eight longlisted books, including The Unforgotten Coat, so if you know a young person who loved the story, make sure you direct them to the site. There's also a brilliant review of the book by Lottie Longshanks on the Guardian website.

Frank also appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning, talking about the importance of reading for pleasure and a little bit about his new professorship.