Animating Literature Projects

Contemporary UK - Reading Groups at Universities in Romania

Reading groups will be formed to encourage students of English from six universities to read and discuss contemporary UK writing.

• Each university selects and buys 10 - 12 copies of a different book using the enCompassCulture web site as a guide
• Following each month reading group meeting, the books will be sent to the next university.
• The books could then be presented and discussed at Literature Conferencess held by universities in Romania.

Project Manager: Monica Relea, British Council, Romania

Developing Tolerance of Diversity through Literature - Slovenia

Aims not only to promote contemporary UK literature in Slovenia but also to focus attention on diversity issues.

• Publication of an anthology of conemporary UK writing in Slovene translation in partnership with a local publisher with texts taken from the British Council anthology New Writing 12 and others selected by two Slovene editiors and Diran Adebayo. Writers visit Slovenia for events (from readings to round to talks on contemporary UK) and reading group sessions in the Information Centre.
• Develop use of contemporary UK literature in schools through English teachers, training, intergrating visiting writers in teaching programme and developing teaching materials.
• Extracts from visiting writers work (with their permission) are distributed in advance to teachers in schools and universities with supporting notes.
• Work with teachers to develop classroom materials that develop cultural awareness and explore aspects of citizenship. Teachers were trained by John McRae. The book will be published in June 2006. Mark Haddon's Curioius Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was chosen as a set text for a national English exam.
• New Literature corner in the Information Centre to support the above activities.

ELT and Literature Project - Romania

English Clubs - 10 reading groups in 10 Bucharest secondary schools set up to develop students' interest in reading contemporary UK literature:

• To be integrated into the school timetable; seven times per year for two-hour sessions; facilitated by a teacher and a student
• At each session the students decide on a response to a literary text, e.g. creative writing, dramatisation, translation and reviews
• Follow-up activities - video conferences with students and/or authors; 'literary' parties; bilingual literary postcards; translation competitions
• Teachers to provide information on the Romanian Teachers Association web site.

Project Manager: Monica Relea, British Council Romania.

Life in Your Hands

A three-year campaign with the following steps:

• Training of British centres partner library managers including audience development and promotion of contemporary British fiction
• Organising Animating Literature seminars across the Czech Republic (70 to date), building up the audience of readers and indicating multipliers
• Training of library managers together with teachers of English to be facilitators of reading groups

In 2005 reading groups in five of the ten partner libraries will be set up. A number of Animating Literature seminars will be run including Reading Welsh Literature. Training will be provided for facilitators of readers groups and for librarians to aid collection development.

Project manager: Helena Kovarikova, Literature Projects Co-ordinator, British Council Czech Republic.

Magic Pencil - Latvia

The Magic Pencil exhibition of children's book illustrations.

• See: www.britishcouncil.org/magicpencil
• The exhibtion was on display at the Baltic Book Fair in March 2005 and there were a set of the children's books in Jelgava Library
• A storyteller (Janet Blake) told stories at the Baltic Book Fair and led a workshop with EL teachers
• Trishia Kings delivered a presentation for publishers and booksellers at the Baltic Book Fair and delivered a workshop for Librarians at the Children's Book Centre

Reader Development in Croatia

• To implement UK experiences in reader development among young audiences in Croatia, to increase their awareness of contemporary UK writing, to encourage them to read in English, to deepen their engagement with our centre and to develop our work with partners. To train reading group facilitators (teachers and librarians) and set up reading groups.
• Communicating through e-mails, Intranet reader development forum, and the enCompassCulture web site.
• To produce and distribute brochures, posters, and bookmarks to local libraries, schools and universities. Book exhibitions and quizzes.

Project manager: Andreja Catinelli, British Council Croatia.

Reading Kit - Hungary

• Teaching materials intended to make young people explore British literature, enjoy themselves and think about what they are reading.
• Collaborative project instigated by the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and the British Council Hungary.
• Aims to engage young Hungarians in learning more about contemporary British society and culture through reading and discussion of two novels: The Curious Incident of the Dog and the Night-time by Mark Haddon and Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah.
• Session plans for 20 Reading Circle meetings - within each plan there is: a summary; warmer activities; three main activity areas (action, characters and ideas); cooler activities; and materials/research.
• They will be available on www.encompassculture.com October 2005
• From September 2005 until May 2006 Reading Circle facilitators will participate in a further 10-hour distance learning module.
• May 2006 Readers-meet-author event in Budapest

Project Manager: Gabi Gulyas, BC Hungary

Reading Nomads

To set up reading groups at secondary schools and universities in Kazakhstan as well as to introduce young people to the contemporary junior fiction in the UK and to the pleasure of reading.

• To provide training for facilitators of the reading groups (teachers and librarians)
• To set up six reading groups at local schools and universities providing books and guidance
• To create a positive reading experience

If the project is a success it will be developed countywide.

Project leader: Tamara Filatova, British Council Kazakhstan.

Road Quilt

A regional creative writing project in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, Russia and Hungary that combines a series of writer workshops across the region with active creative writing that is posted on the Road Quilt web site.

Writers' tour took place in Spring 2005.