Helen Robinson
Oldham Literature Development Officer
Helen writes:
I am a full time Literature Development Officer with Oldham Libraries. I have been in post since summer 03 and already we have had a number of events. Oldham has a strong tradition of holding excellent events in order to promote reading and writing and I am to build on that tradition. We launched the Readers and Writers website in September and this continues to grow. Please feel free to have a look at www.oldham.gov.uk/community/libraries/read_write/index.shtml. It has details of reading promotions we plan to hold in the near future. In October ’03 we hosted the Kin Tour for Black History Month. The audience were delighted by the quality of the performance given by the poets who attended. During October/November ‘03, author Joe Pemberton visited two library reading groups to provide them with a reading and give them an insight into his writing and his life. In December ‘03 we hosted events in all libraries for the Big Read.
Also in December we hosted a Mushaira, a poetry and prose performance for women. We aimed to attract an audience across cultures and were relatively successful. This was a ground-breaking project as Mushairas are normally in Urdu and attract men and women. One lady only came to bring her mother but was so taken by the beauty of the perfomances that she asked when there might be another. We are planning to hold another, perhaps mixed event in the future. May ’04 saw the Festival of Words come to town with the theme of ‘A Sense of Belonging’. Oldham Libraries plan to continue their hard work in the future and would be very interested to hear from anybody who would be interested in helping or collaborating.
I have run the reading group since I started here in 2003, after Colin Brown left. The group meets every other Thursday at 1.30 till 3 pm.
helen.robinson@oldham.gov.uk
General info:
http://www.oldham.gov.uk/community/libraries/index.shtml/
Contact:
Helen Robinson
C/o Oldham Library
Union Street
Oldham
OL1 1DN
tel: 0161 911 4633
email: helen.robinson@oldham.gov.uk