Session 17: Writers are readers and readers are writers

Abstract

Session overview:

How can we get more students reading — critically and creatively? Why is it important to do so? In what ways might having an open-minded approach to reading harness net positive effects on the wider student experience and sense of cohort identity? Addressing worrying national trends in diminishing numbers of young people reading for pleasure (National Literacy Trust, 2024) this session asks what our responsibilities are as literary citizens.

A collaborative session between a lecturer and two students, we will ask and explore: how and why we read; the ways in which good reading habits underpin and strengthen good writing practices; and how developing these pedagogies might be put at the heart of an Arts & Humanities renaissance, celebrating our subjects and all the positive attributes they bring to the culture and economy of a city-region. As the educator and philosopher Paolo Freire said: ‘Reading the world always precedes reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world.’

Stemming from work undertaken on the new Writers Are Readers level 4 module at LJMU, the students will explain how their reading passions and interests were foregrounded while they were simultaneously challenged to read in new genres and areas, and what this has meant for their budding practice as writers. Students will give accounts of beginning to explore Liverpool’s literary ecology – from the Picton Reading Rooms to Dead Ink Books – and they will illustrate the ways in which the module gave them agency and autonomy to pursue critical-creative research projects.

Key learning points from this session:

• A demystification of what Creative Writing students do and why it’s relevant
• Module and programme leaders, as well as students, in other disciplines might learn from best practice, especially in terms of engaging with the city
• Practical tips and advice on how to be more focused and attentive close readers

Writers are readers and readers are writers PowerPoint. Only LJMU staff and students have access to this resource.