Reader Leader Recommendations

Our wonderful Reader Leaders are a fountain of knowledge when it comes to stories and poems that spark inspiration, connection and the joy of reading together. As we welcome the summer season in all its brightness and bloom, we thought we'd ask some of our Reader Leaders to share their favourite poems they’ve explored in Shared Reading groups recently. From thought-provoking reflections to uplifting verses, these are the poems that have resonated most with them and their groups.

'Nests' by Kathy Donaghy

Recommended by Lisa Spurgin

When I read this piece with an online Shared Reading group recently, one group member emailed afterwards to say that they found it 'really moving and uplifting'. Kathy Donaghy is an journalist and author who writes about the wildness of where she lives "right on the edge of Ireland".  As the title might suggest, 'Nests' takes a closer look at the many different types of birds who call the earth their home, and the ways in which they seemingly effortlessly adapt and secretly communicate with one another in order to not only be safe and survive, but to flourish in the world as is their right as creatures of nature.

It is a beautiful, insightful piece of writing which had us marvelling at the wonders of the natural world, and reflecting on how we as humans can both help and harm the ways in which birds live, even when most often we don't mean to.

"It's a comfort to know that something so beautiful could be created out of so little, that the natural world has depths of knowledge and powers of creation that we can't begin to imagine."

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Recommended by Lisa Spurgin

Villette is a novel that has been on my ever-growing 'to read' list for quite some time! Inspired by the inclusion of an extract from the novel being shared earlier this year as part of the Monthly Stories and Poems, I decided there was no time like the present to get stuck in. I have been absorbed for the past few months in the world and indeed the inner life of Lucy Snowe, the heroine of the tale, as she navigates her life teaching at a boarding school for girls in the French town of Villette. What has really resonated with me has been the internal struggles that Lucy faces as a young woman trying to find her way in the world - often quite big and existential questions of life, and how to live it to the best of your ability. Add to that more than a few twists and turns, and the result is a read that has had me gripped.

"I see that a great many men, and more women, hold their span of life on conditions of denial and privation. I find no reason why I should be of the few favoured. I believe in some blending of hope and sunshine sweetening the worst lots. I believe that this life is not all; neither the beginning nor the end. I believe while I tremble; I trust while I weep."

'You Reading This, Be Ready' by William Stafford 

Recommended by Megan Walder

This poem was immediately gifted the title as one of the best poems my group had come across, and every reread brought new light and colour to their interpretation. As the title suggests, it's very on the nose for Shared Reading, with group members being immersed into the world of the poem directly. I couldn't recommend using it more, it truly had such a powerful effect on everyone in the room.

"Will you ever bring a better gift for the world

than the breathing respect that you carry

wherever you go right now?"

'A Portable Paradise' by Roger Robinson

Recommended by Megan Walder

I came across this poem in a Shared Reading group led by The Reader's wonderful Director of Literature, Katie Clark, and have shared it with a few groups now. As with every great piece of literature, it opens up completely different conversations depending on where it is read and who it is read with. I've heard lines likened to moments in addiction by some and freedom and absolute peace with the world by others.

In one group, after reading the poem, someone said "This has made me love poems again. We all sit around in a group and everyone has different ideas - thank you."

'Setting' by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer

Recommended by Katie Clark

I found this poem in the latest Bookshelf anthology, The Home We Carry, and took it to my Shared Reading group yesterday and it went down really well. The group is for people who have English as a second language and we found lots to explore together, from some of the unusual words themselves 'rickety', 'cluttered', 'nuance' to the picture of 'a table made of listening'. One group member said:

"I think this poem is so interesting, how you start out with one idea about it and as you read it, it changes and changes."

The group shared thoughts about different kinds of listening and examples of this from their own life. We were interested in the line 'May it be small enough we might/see each other's eyes'. One group member came back to this line, reflecting that 'we can hide a lot of truths in our voice. But not in our eyes, or our body language'. It felt that eye contact was another form of 'listening' and paying careful attention.

A British Childhood (How our Children Live Now) by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Recommended by Katie Clark

I read this book recently and found it very moving. Frank writes about his experiences over the last two years visiting many schools, community centres and projects up and down the country in his role as Children's Laureate. Whilst he doesn't shy away from the difficult, upsetting and worrying things he has seen, he manages to do this with compassion and hope. I would really recommend to everyone who is interested in reading and creating readers for the future.

‘Those Winter Sundays’ by Robert Hayden

Recommended by Bethan Elliott

I came across this poem in our latest Bookshelf Anthology, The Home we Carry. The poem follows a father who ‘got up early And put his clothes on in the blueblack cold’ to light the fire. He was the one ‘who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well’.

I found the display of sacrificial love extremely moving. This steady man who rose before the household, to light the fires and create warmth for his family. This tireless and steady act is so loving, and what struck me most is it was done in silence, and ‘No one ever thanked him’. At the start of the day, his first movements were a display of love for those who still slept in their beds.

It made me think of those who rise and let their dogs out first thing in the morning, and in our most recent heatwave, I chuckled to myself walking into the Mansion House as the park was teeming with dog walkers at 8am! All diligently and sacrificially caring for their dependants before the heat of the day got too much. All those parents and carers who are having breakfast at 4.30am with their little ones, reading their first book before their eyes are properly open, or having a dolls tea party before the kettle has boiled for themselves.

It sparked a very beautiful conversation in our Shared Reading group, and one of our group members said, ‘this reminds me of my mum. She was always up before us and I’ve never really considered it until now. I’m going to read this over the phone to her this afternoon and thank her for everything.’