Photos by Simon Veit-Wilson | www.veit-wilson.co.uk

Commuters passing through Newcastle’s Monument Metro station on Friday 4 June will be encouraged to take five minutes out from their busy day by relaxing with a good book as the ticket hall is transformed into a beach reading haven. Between 7.30am and 11am, the station will be adorned with deckchairs, banners and well-stocked bookshelves to launch this year’s Read Regional campaign, which is intended to get people reading books by regional authors. Free copies of the books being promoted by the campaign will be handed out to commuters and some of the writers will also be on hand to join in the fun.

Graham Pears’ event in Hartlepool Central Library last Thursday (20 May) went very well, with over 40 people turning out to hear him read from The Myth of Justice, featuring Newcastle detective Jet (aka Francis Whittle).

The next library event in this year’s Read Regional calendar is on Monday 7 June, when Janette Jenkins will be reading from her novel, The Angel of Brooklyn, a captivating trans-Atlantic love story set in the run-up to the First World War. You can get full details of the event, which is at Newcastle’s West End library, on our Events page.

We’re also planning the press launch for Read Regional, which will take place on Friday 4 June during the morning rush hour at Newcastle’s Monument Metro station. We’ll be there giving out copies of the Read Regional Journal supplement with exclusive interviews with all the authors (as well as free books to a lucky few), and several of the writers will be dropping by too. Come along if you can!

Read Regional is gathering pace with our preview launch at Hexham Book Festival on 29 April and our first author event taking place in Thornaby Central Library on Wednesday 5 May.

The Hexham launch felt truly spring-like, with the sun streaming in through the windows and a backdrop of cherry trees in blossom. It was great to see all the writers together, bar Kachi Ozumba who, poor soul, had had a crisis with a tooth and had to dash off for an emergency appointment. The event was ably chaired by Claire Malcolm, who firstly invited each of the three novelists present to give a brief résumé of their novels. This gave a delicious sense of the diversity in subject and styles of the books and was followed by the four poets reading from their collections. I can’t think of many better ways to spend an afternoon than listening to poetry and this was no exception; as I listened I felt elated that we had chosen such talented writers to be part of the campaign. The audience were warm and appreciative and all in all it felt like Read Regional had got off to a good start.

On Wednesday I travelled to Thornaby Library to hear Bob Beagrie read as part of the joint Read Regional and Apples and Snakes event. The event was to celebrate the residencies that Apples and Snakes have pioneered under the title of ‘My Place or Yours’, but Claire Morgan, co-ordinator of Apples and Snakes, is a supporter of Read Regional and wanted us to partner the event, so Bob was joined by two performance poets, Mike Edwards and Emma McGordon. All three must be congratulated for reading with such commitment to the small but enthusiastic audience.

The next event is on Thursday 20 May at 7pm, with Graham Pears reading at Hartlepool Central Library. If you live in or around Hartlepool, do drop in – we’d love to see you.

Buy The Journal newspaper today and you can read our special Read Regional supplement which will be given away free in the paper. The supplement will be distributed to 30,000 people via the newspaper and 10,000 copies will also be delivered to libraries and other cultural venues over the next few weeks. Inside you can read interviews with each of the eight authors and hear from some of the North East’s keen readers on where and what they read.

www.journallive.co.uk/culture-newcastle/read-regional

We are delighted to announce the eight writers who have been selected to be part of the Read Regional 2010 campaign. This year we have expanded Read Regional to include poetry as well as fiction, to give the campaign a fresh new feel that includes a style for every taste.

The four poets and their books
Bob Beagrie The Seer Sung Husband
Linda France You Are Her
Cynthia Fuller Background Music
Carolyn Jess-Cooke Inroads

The four novelists and their books
Janette Jenkins Angel of Brooklyn
Rebecca Jenkins The Duke’s Agent
Kachi Ozumba The Shadow of A Smile
Graham Pears The Myth of Justice

Bob Beagrie’s The Seer Sung Husband is an epic narrative poem that looks at the pilgrimage of Grace through the personal story of Mother Shipton, the North East’s famous soothsayer, whose story is narrated by her husband, Tobias. It’s a work of lyricism and beauty but also manages to draws the reader in through its deft storytelling.

The poems in You Are Her by Linda France examine themes of boundaries, identity, damage and absence. Central to the book is a section looking at nature and cultivation through the life and work of Capability Brown. These sensitively drawn poems demonstrate Linda’s love of landscape and strong sense of place.

Cynthia Fuller poignantly draws on old photos of her youthful parents as inspiration for her new collection, Background Music. In this delightful book we find poems about a young couple enjoying their freedom before being bogged down by the cares of marriage and child rearing.

In Carolyn Jess-Cooke’s first collection, Inroads, we discover an eclectic mix of poems, ranging in subjects from the exhaustion of a young mother to characters in ancient myths being forced to confront Facebook. Inroads demonstrates an experimentation of style and form which makes it an exhilarating collection to dip into.

Angel of Brooklyn by Janette Jenkins is set during World War I and features an exotic stranger coming to a small rural community in Lancashire. Beatrice, a former showgirl, has a secret to hide and this proves to be her undoing. Strongly atmospheric and deeply touching, Angel of Brooklyn moves between locations in America and rural Lancashire with ease.

Set during the Regency period, The Duke’s Agent by Rebecca Jenkins is a historical mystery. The hero, Frederick Raphael Jarrett, is a mysterious soldier returning from war. He’s sent to sort out a problem on an estate in the North-East but instead gets caught up in a murder. This is a very enjoyable read that is strong on period detail.

The Shadow of a Smile by Kachi Ozumba follows the story of a young student who through no fault of his own is falsely imprisoned in the horror of a Nigerian prison. This is a funny and poignant novel which gives an insight into the corruption at the heart of the Nigerian justice system.

Graham Pears’ background in the police force gave him the in-depth knowledge to write his first crime novel, The Myth of Justice. Strong on Newcastle atmosphere, the book features a detective, nicknamed Jet, who we follow through a world of organised crime and corruption.

Queen’s Hall, Hexham: Thursday 29 April, 4.30pm
Join New Writing North at Hexham Book Festival for a preview of the 2010 Read Regional campaign. Find out which eight books by local authors we’ll be promoting this summer and meet the participating writers. With readings from four wonderful North East poets: Linda France, Carolyn Jess-Cooke, Cynthia Fuller and Bob Beagrie. Admission free.