Here are the details and links to the information I will be chatting about in my ‘Creative Catch-up’ on BBC Radio Suffolk with @JournoJon tonight :)

National Reading Together Day…

For many of us our first experience of reading is actually listening. Parents and guardians reading us a bedtime story, starting to follow the story on the page as well as creating the image in our own mind.

This Thursday 16th July is national Reading Together day. Consisting of over 15 organisations collaborating to highlight the importance of reading together:

• Families invited to take part in a celebration of reading together on 16 July
• Shared schedule of events throughout the day featuring collaborators across books, publishing and education sectors

Families across the country are invited to take part in the celebration of reading together on 16 July as part of the Reading Together Day, coordinated by The Reading Agency.

The Lettering Arts Trust is open…

The wonderful folk of The Lettering Arts Trust, based at Snape Maltings, are re-opening today. With a limit on the number of people who can be in the gallery at one time, this sounds like a great place to get your creative fix. Galleries are a perfect place to practice social distancing and The Lettering Arts Trust have a wonderful exhibition for you to enjoy.

Their current exhibition ‘Innovative Forms’ shows the work of the British sculptor and letter-cutter John Stephen Skelton MBE (8 July 1923 – 26 November 1999). This exhibition celebrates John Skelton’s innovative approach to alphabet and lettering design and explores the large variety of commissions he produced… including drawings for E.E. Shepherd’s headstone.

The Lettering Art Trust have used lockdown to plan for the future and have some exciting things coming up with Journal Making and Map Making workshops in August and September.

Dial Lane books

Dial Lane Books opened earlier this year and has had to deal with closing to the public during the pandemic in it’s first year of trading. Let’s support our independent shops as we return to a ‘new normal’.

This brilliant little book shop, run by Andrew Marsh, can be found on Dial Lane in Ipswich. Offering a wide range of books and specialising in Adult, Children’s and Travel publications. Andrew is passionate about books and the shop is full of art and creativity! :)