At the same time as Lindsay's workshop yesterday, another of our partners on this project, the Welsh learners' society CYD (Cymdeithas y Dysgwyr) ran a coffee morning in a local cafe where they could have a chat with Caryl Lewis about her Stori Sydyn/Quick Reads book, Y Rhwyd.
Caryl is a very popular author in Wales having sccoped Book of the Year for her novel Martha, Jac a Sianco in 2005. She's also from Ceredigion. She's about to publish her third, Y Gemydd (The Jeweller), and I'm really looking forward to reading it. I enjoyed Y Rhwyd, it was one of those stories where you were always trying to second-guess what was coming next, and the story was very modern in it's use of email and chatrooms as part of the plot.
As I said at the start of the project, the Stori Sydyn books are really popular with the more advanced learners. Because the books stick as much as possible to everyday language, they don't have to keep going to the dictionary all the time and can just really start enjoying a book in Welsh.
Jaci Taylor from CYD also organised a Stori Sydyn quiz in the evening, where five teams were tested on their knowledge of the books - as well as getting a chance to practice speaking Welsh of course!
Day 11 - Thursday, March 15, 2007
Three events on in Aberystwyth today.
The first was a workshop with the author of The Rubber Woman, Lindsay Ashford.
Working alongside Geraldine Taylor, the basic skills tutor, and Derval Casey their Work based Learning Training Adviser, Lindsay (who lives just outside Aberystwyth, in Borth) read extracts and took questions about her book. It was really interesting to hear all about how Lindsay had got into the crime fiction genre, her degree in criminology and particularly the research that went into The Rubber Woman. Lindsay had actually shadowed a community worker who was trying to help prostitutes get off the streets, and learnt a lot about the drugs that kept these women in such a desperate situation.
The learners were all given a copy of the book at the end of the session, and the tutor is going to do group readings of the book, with the learners following in their own copy. They will then have a discussion about the book and do some short written pieces on what they thought of the book. These short pieces will then be sent to to us. I'm looking forward to seeing what their thoughts are.
The first was a workshop with the author of The Rubber Woman, Lindsay Ashford.
Working alongside Geraldine Taylor, the basic skills tutor, and Derval Casey their Work based Learning Training Adviser, Lindsay (who lives just outside Aberystwyth, in Borth) read extracts and took questions about her book. It was really interesting to hear all about how Lindsay had got into the crime fiction genre, her degree in criminology and particularly the research that went into The Rubber Woman. Lindsay had actually shadowed a community worker who was trying to help prostitutes get off the streets, and learnt a lot about the drugs that kept these women in such a desperate situation.
The learners were all given a copy of the book at the end of the session, and the tutor is going to do group readings of the book, with the learners following in their own copy. They will then have a discussion about the book and do some short written pieces on what they thought of the book. These short pieces will then be sent to to us. I'm looking forward to seeing what their thoughts are.
Day 10 - Wednesday, March 14, 2007
It's my birthday today!
Had fun going around all the different cafes, pubs and other businesses taking part in the campaign - it's nice to meet the people you've been speaking to over the phone and show them the books. They all thought the campaign was a really good idea. I didn't really know Aber very well before this week, but I'm finding my way around the town by now.
The photographer, Keith Morris, helped us get our participants to pose with the books. Some of them were naturals, getting into the spirit of things straight away and having a bit of fun whilst others need a bit of an encouragement and some (sort of!) funny jokes from Keith before they showed their pearly whites!
Had fun going around all the different cafes, pubs and other businesses taking part in the campaign - it's nice to meet the people you've been speaking to over the phone and show them the books. They all thought the campaign was a really good idea. I didn't really know Aber very well before this week, but I'm finding my way around the town by now.
The photographer, Keith Morris, helped us get our participants to pose with the books. Some of them were naturals, getting into the spirit of things straight away and having a bit of fun whilst others need a bit of an encouragement and some (sort of!) funny jokes from Keith before they showed their pearly whites!
Day 8 - Monday, March 12, 2007
This week we're in Aberystwyth. We had a great response for all kinds of businesses in Aberystwyth, with over 15 taking part in the campaign by displaying posters or books, so today we went around all the businesses taking part to deliver their materials and explain more about the Quick Reads. Hairdressers, Cafes, dental surgeries, doctors all took part, as well as the local primary school in Penparcau. We helped contribute towards their 'Read a Million Words' effort by supplying Quick Reads with word count stickers on them. We also put up displays at the local leisure centre and the further education college, Coleg Ceredigion. With all the support, I hope the local media pick up on the Quick Reads and we'll get some pictures into the paper.
Day 7 – Sunday, 11th March
Had a great time at a Family Fun Day organised in Galeri, Caernarfon. The event is organised three times a year for families with autistic children to enjoy a day out for the whole family, and there’s a chance to see a film and take part in a music workshop.
Being very busy parents, the adults I spoke to didn’t ever have time to read – in fact one lady commented that she’d been trying to get through the same novel for over a year! Another said she’d like to take one to her elderly mother, who would find the larger print easier to read. The Quick Reads concept really appealed to these busy families, and I was busy all day explaining the different books available and the idea behind the series.
Being very busy parents, the adults I spoke to didn’t ever have time to read – in fact one lady commented that she’d been trying to get through the same novel for over a year! Another said she’d like to take one to her elderly mother, who would find the larger print easier to read. The Quick Reads concept really appealed to these busy families, and I was busy all day explaining the different books available and the idea behind the series.
Day 5 – Thursday, 8th March, 2007
A very busy day today.
At 9.30am we went over to the Noddfa Centre on the Ysgubor Goch estate in Caernarfon. Every week, parents take their children to a ‘Ti a Fi’ session at the centre, and we were invited to speak to the mothers whilst the toddlers enjoyed their playtime!
Bethan Gwanas spoke to them about her books generally, and especially the Quick Read book Os Mêts, before discussing with the mothers what they liked to read and when they got the time to pick up a book. Everyone then received a copy of the book to take home and it will be good to get their opinions once they’ve had time to read the books between nappy changes and feeds!
Then Bethan and I went on to Caernarfon library, where a group of young mothers between the ages of 15-18 meet to chat to the midwife. The girls were a bit shy to start, but sooned warmed up once they found out who Bethan was – many of them had read her books at school, so they were glad of the opportunity to read her latest book and speak to her about what it was like to be young mothers.
In the afternoon, we had a special event going on at the creative centre, Galeri. This was a chance for the public to come and listen to Bethan Gwanas being quizzed about her new book by Luned Emyr, a popular S4C presenter. The whole afternoon had a nice feel to it – everyone sitting on the comfy sofas listening to the two ladies having a laugh and a natter. It was interesting to see people passing and trying to see what was going on, and by the end of the session, our audience had doubled.
At 9.30am we went over to the Noddfa Centre on the Ysgubor Goch estate in Caernarfon. Every week, parents take their children to a ‘Ti a Fi’ session at the centre, and we were invited to speak to the mothers whilst the toddlers enjoyed their playtime!
Bethan Gwanas spoke to them about her books generally, and especially the Quick Read book Os Mêts, before discussing with the mothers what they liked to read and when they got the time to pick up a book. Everyone then received a copy of the book to take home and it will be good to get their opinions once they’ve had time to read the books between nappy changes and feeds!
Then Bethan and I went on to Caernarfon library, where a group of young mothers between the ages of 15-18 meet to chat to the midwife. The girls were a bit shy to start, but sooned warmed up once they found out who Bethan was – many of them had read her books at school, so they were glad of the opportunity to read her latest book and speak to her about what it was like to be young mothers.
In the afternoon, we had a special event going on at the creative centre, Galeri. This was a chance for the public to come and listen to Bethan Gwanas being quizzed about her new book by Luned Emyr, a popular S4C presenter. The whole afternoon had a nice feel to it – everyone sitting on the comfy sofas listening to the two ladies having a laugh and a natter. It was interesting to see people passing and trying to see what was going on, and by the end of the session, our audience had doubled.
Day 3 – Wednesday, 7th March, 2007
CYD – the Welsh language learners’ group - organised a coffee morning and a Quick Reads/Stori Sydyn quiz yesterday. The Welsh language books appeal to learners because the language is a little simpler and the books shorter, making them that little bit more manageable. I’ve had many learners tell me how please they are that more Stori Sydyn books have been published, since they’ve already read all of last year’s titles!
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