Students on both sides of the border enjoying Berwick Literary Festival reading project

They have been involved in a project they named ‘A Literary Conversation’ in which pupils from both schools selected their favourite books and – in bookshop style – wrote postcards recommending them to other readers.

On a recent Saturday morning, they came together to discuss what they had chosen and exchange their recommendations, which they then took back to their schools to share with staff and other students.

They met in the library in Berwick, where staff had enthusiastically joined in the project. The students sent their recommendations in and the library staff acquired copies of all the books and set up a display containing a wide variety of books.

A Literary Conversation is part of the Schools and Young People’s Programme of Berwick Literary Festival, providing a series of events in which almost 1,000 pupils of all ages participate each year.

A small but successful festival, it relies on a great deal of goodwill and financial support from a variety of patrons and, for A Literary Conversation this year, the Siobhan Dowd Trust.

The students and their teachers are keen to continue their conversations and intend to invite other local schools to participate in future, not least because the project has encouraged reading and conversation about books and it has shown students that adults are willing to give them agency to effect improvement in their communities.