Leeds Read 2008 - a great success!

Last Night Leeds Read 2008 ended with a bang. Bestseller Philip Pullman was kind enough to take the time to deliver an engaging and inspired lecture, entitled ‘Poco a Poco’. The lecture took place in the beautiful setting of the Clothworkers Centenary Hall in the School of Music, and after a brilliant introduction from our very own Chris Sheppard, Philip went on to discuss what makes up a narrative, namely, the elementary particles- the example he used was the pouring of water into a glass, those of us lucky enough to have been present are eagerly awaiting the eventual publication of this theory, which is sure to be an enlightening insight into one of our best living writers. Following the lecture, Philip kindly answered questions from the audience about inspiration, spirituality and what makes a good ending. He was captivating from start to finish, and has as much appeal to the young as he does to the old.

Philip was also given the honour of announcing the Leeds Read favourite children’s book as voted by you on http://www.leeds.ac.uk/library/leedsread/. The winner, unsurprisingly, was His Dark Materials, by our guest, which drew at first place with A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. The entire top twenty can be viewed on the website now.

Special thanks must also go to the Leeds University Union Debating Society, who delivered a very well informed and interesting discussion on the motion "The national curriculum should only include British authors to foster a sense of national identity" on 26th February.

Congratulations and great thanks to all of the Leeds Read team. Roll on Leeds Read 2009!