Meet The Reader: Staff Spotlight with Frances

Saturday 30 September is International Podcast Day so this month we got chatting to Frances MacMillan, the Head of Literary Content and one of the minds behind The Reader Podcast.

 

"[The Reader Podcast is] a very flexible, accessible medium we can use to tell Reader stories in our own time and on our own terms."

Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hello, I’m Frances and I’m Head of Literary Content. I worked in publishing for 13 years, running the Vintage Classics list at Penguin Random House, and I joined The Reader in 2019 to relaunch and edit The Reader magazine. I now manage a small team producing publications and digital content both for and about Shared Reading.

What does the Literary Content team do?

Finding something great to read is a big part of the role for each Reader Leader, and not everyone has access to a large and varied library or time to hunt down just the right piece for their group each week. Our job is to provide access to literature that’s been tried and tested and provided rich Shared Reading experiences in the past, but also to recommend new stories, books and poems that widen and diversify this growing library of material. We work closely with the Shared Reading Practise team, who help curate and contribute to our literary content, and help disperse it through the wider Reader community.

What part of your job are you most excited about at the moment?

We started The Reader Podcast in 2021 and although I’ve been producing episodes rather slowly and haphazardly – learning on the job – I’m excited to develop it further. It’s a very flexible, accessible medium we can use to tell Reader stories in our own time and on our own terms. We can use it to communicate and recommend the literature we’re reading, inspire listeners to read new things, and discuss the benefits and challenges of Shared Reading. We could also use it to showcase and enthuse about all areas of the Readers work – events, the Storybarn, The Reader’s work in mental health or the criminal justice system. We’re just getting started!

The Reader Podcast launched in 2021

Which is your favourite episode of The Reader Podcast?

I really enjoyed putting together the episode called ‘Heritage’ (ep.14) which is related to The Reader’s project to uncover the heritage of our headquarters at Calderstones. The episode is partly an audio tour of the Mansion House, but interspersed with the literature that has been read as part of this project to really bring the history to life. I also like the episodes where we’ve heard stories about particular poems that have been read many times in Shared Reading groups over the years, such as Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 (ep.2) or the poem ‘Walking Away’ by C.Day Lewis (ep.6).

Finding something great to read is a big part of the role for each Reader Leader, and not everyone has access to a large and varied library or time to hunt down just the right piece for their group each week. Our job is to provide access to literature that’s been tried and tested and provided rich Shared Reading experiences in the past, but also to recommend new stories, books and poems that widen and diversify this growing library of material. We work closely with the Shared Reading Practise team, who help curate and contribute to our literary content, and help disperse it through the wider Reader community.

Thanks for talking with us, Frances! You can get stuck into The Reader podcast and stream all episodes here.