Martyn Bedford - Writer

I’m pleased to announce that I have been appointed by the Royal Literary Fund to run a reading group in Ilkley as part of the nationwide Reading Round scheme. I’ll be taking over from another Ilkley-based author, Mary Colson, at the end of her two-year stint.

Reading Round is different to a typical reading group in that the focus is on short stories and poems, not full-length novels, and there’s no advance reading required as photocopies of the texts are circulated at the start of each session. The other distinguishing feature is that the leader reads the story and poem aloud, while members have the copies in front of them, then the group share and discuss their responses to each piece.

My group will meet from 10.30-12.00 every Monday morning for 30 sessions in total, from September to June, with breaks over Christmas and Easter. There’s no charge to join (the RLF funding covers room-hire as well as my fee) and, of course, no requirement on members to attend every session if they’re not always able to come along. The sessions will be held at the Dales Room, Christchurch, The Grove, Ilkley, starting from September 23rd.

Although it’s free to join, numbers are limited. To book a place please email me via the contact page on this website.