Inkwell Readers Group returns this Spring - March 17th 2018

“Inkwell Readers Group

Castaway: NOUN: a person who has been shipwrecked and stranded in an isolated space.

Robinson Crusoe, upon its publication was believed to a real, historical account of a man who was stranded on an island. Once this illusion faded of it actually being a real-life account, it gave way to another illusion – that of it as a work of fiction. Often heralded as the genesis of the English novel Defoe’s work has been parodied, rewritten and interpreted to mean a variety of things over the centuries, but one thing that it does lay claim to is this idea of reading as an opportunity to ‘escape’ the world. If Defoe was thinking how better to write the first novel than to write about a man who has escaped the world, he must also have been thinking, what better way than to read about a man stuck on a desert island, mustn’t he? To be castaway, quite a scary thought, but in the hands of an absorbing narrative, the isolation doesn’t seem so fearful does it? Perhaps I’m straying down a tenuous path, but it alludes to my greater point and allays to the perils of taking this idea of escapism to the extreme, because we will not be on a desert island: we will be at Inkwell in Chapel Allerton. Although located in Leeds on this island called Great Britain, it could hardly be classed as remote, or tropical. And there is a café here, with coffee, cakes, and a savoury, hot and cold selection. And transport links.

So then, on the third Saturday of every month we will spend an hour to discuss these books and their created worlds. There is no rhyme or reason, and no overarching theme as to what we read, just as widely and as openly as possible. Grab a drink, some breakfast/lunch (isn’t there a word for that?) and come and join us at Inkwell. The first meeting will be an open meet and greet and from there we will discuss which book we’re going to read first. For more information ask inside, or contact Liam at: [email protected]. “