''The Reader'' is a

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

-based

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

published quarterly by ''The Reader Organisation''. The magazine was founded in 1997 by Sarah Coley, Jane Davis, and Angela Macmillan with a grant from the University of Liverpool's School of English. It operated as part of the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

until 2008 when the parent organisation became an independent charitable body. ''The Reader'' magazine is currently edited by Philip Davis, author, biographer, and Professor of English at the

. The Deputy Editor is Sarah Coley. The magazine features original

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and short

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

, essays, interviews and recommendations with an emphasis on the enjoyment of reading good quality writing. Issues are based loosely around a given theme, with letters, a crossword and the famously tricky 'Buck's Quiz' making up the last section. Since taking over the editorship from his wife in 2007 Philip Davis has overseen a successful redesign and relaunch and the magazine now includes a small amount of photography. The magazine has managed to attract many high-profile contributors over the years, including A. S. Byatt,

Howard Jacobson Howard Eric Jacobson (born 25 August 1942) is a British novelist and journalist. He is known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters.Ragi, K. R., "Howard Jacobson's ''The Finkler Question'' as ...

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

Graham Swift Graham Colin Swift FRSL (born 4 May 1949) is an English writer. Born in London, England, he was educated at Dulwich College, London, Queens' College, Cambridge, and later the University of York. Career Some of Swift's books have been filmed, ...

, John Kinsella, Les Murray, John Carey,

Bel Mooney Beryl Ann "Bel" Mooney (born 8 October 1946) is an English journalist and broadcaster. She currently writes a column for the ''Daily Mail'', having previously written – mainly as a columnist – for other publications including the ''Daily Mirro ...

and

Jonathan Bate Sir Andrew Jonathan Bate, CBE, FBA, FRSL (born 26 June 1958), is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, poet, playwright, novelist and scholar. He specialises in Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He is Foundation Profes ...

. As well as the magazine, The Reader Organisation promotes live literature and

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

events and educational community-based projects such as Get Into Reading, promoting and researching the therapeutic value of reading ('

bibliotherapy Bibliotherapy (also referred to as book therapy, reading therapy, poetry therapy or therapeutic storytelling) is a creative arts therapy that involves storytelling or the reading of specific texts. It uses an individual's relationship to the co ...

'). In this context The Reader supports and works with other U.K. arts in health charities such as Poems in the Waiting Room. In 2008 it spun off from the

as an independent charitable organisation with Blake Morrison as its Chair and Jane Davis as director.

External links

''The Reader Organisation''Get Into Reading
1997 establishments in the United Kingdom Bibliotherapy Poetry magazines published in the United Kingdom Quarterly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1997 Mass media in Liverpool {{UK-poetry-mag-stub

See also

External links