We speak to Sam Duncan, creator of the learning resources for all Quick Reads titles and author of Reading for Pleasure and Reading Circles for Adult Emergent Readers.
The book aims to provide practical tips and things to think about for anyone interested in running a reading group of any kind – librarians, community workers, teachers and non-teachers, including anyone working with people who may see themselves as new to reading or new to reading in English.
Sam Duncan is Senior Lecturer in Adult Education and Literacies at UCL Institute of Education.
Why and how did you develop an interest in opening up reading for pleasure for those who don’t find it easy?
I am an adult literacy teacher and teacher educator and so have a long-standing interest in different ways to support adults with their reading. I also have a long-standing interest in the pleasures and powers of film and literature – in why and how people read or listen to novels, stories and poems, and in why and how people watch plays and films. I also think that much of ‘what goes on’ when you read a story or novel, for example, is internal, hidden and/or just not talked about and so this can be a further barrier for those who may not feel confident in their reading.
What are the key things about reading groups that enhance reading for pleasure, that apply to any reader (emergent or otherwise?)
I think most of us like to talk about what we have read or what we are in the middle of reading. We do so much active work reading a novel – conjuring up characters, places, emotions, conflicts, dilemmas, dramas– and can be fun to share or compare these. Reading groups also remind us that reading can be a communal activity, as well as a solitary one. We can form interpretations together, through conversations in reading groups and in this way, the actual cognitive work of reading becomes communal as well as individual. This never fails to excite me.
How do you put together the Quick Reads learning resources?
Quick Reads are great for any reader, including, but not exclusively, those less confident in their reading, and the Quick Reads titles in any given year always include a range of genres so there is something for everyone. To create the resources, I read the books several times and take notes of what jumps out at me. Then I try to form these into questions or activities which could be used by both individuals and groups.
Tell us more about your book
The book aims to provide practical tips and things to think about for anyone interested in running a reading group of any kind – librarians, community workers, teachers and non-teachers, including anyone working with people who may see themselves as new to reading or new to reading in English.
What was your own reading journey?
I remember being frustrated at school because it felt like I would never learn to read- and then suddenly I could read and never looked back. I really love reading, novels in particular for that chance to be someone else for a while. There’s nothing like it for getting inside other people’s heads and worlds – and so feeling a bit more able to understand or cope with my own. In terms of what I’m reading now, I loved Ann Cleeve’s Too Good to Be True (one of the 2016 Quick Reads) so much that I went out and read all the novels in the Shetland series. I’ve just finished the last one and so am left dreaming of the Shetland Isles and Jimmy Perez.
Get involved
You can download Reading for Pleasure and Reading Circles for Adult Emergent Readers from our Resources
Find out more about Quick Reads and explore our Quick Reads Learning Resources
Set up a reading group? Make sure you join Reading Groups for Everyone to take advantage of all the fantastic offers and competitions available for your group.
