Laced with engaging anecdotes of Richard’s own experiences of literature in his childhood and later teenage years, the talk provided some wonderful talking points for students and teachers to discuss and ponder.
The talk centred around his insights and thoughts on why we read literature and its transformative effects on a reader. Spanning texts from the Bible and oral tradition, through Milton’s Paradise Lost, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Austen, Dickens and even Disney interpretations of classic tales, the audience was asked to consider how change, both in terms of characters within texts as well as the change elicited from a reader, or even society as a whole, occurs.
Alongside publishing and editing a variety of books on, and about, literature Richard has won many accolades in his teaching roles, including ‘most inspirational teacher’ at the Teaching Excellence Awards.
We thank Richard for this thought-provoking exploration into the wonderful world of literature.
