Reading Group in Demand Again

The Association’s group of readers were in action again for the National Reading Evening when they were invited to deliver another selection from JRR Tolkien at the Archives Départementales de la Creuse in Gueret on Saturday 18th January.

The group seems to be attracting the attention of a wide audience in the Creuse. This time amongst the audience of around 50 people we had the Department’s Prefect, Mme  Magalie Debatte, the official representative of the Republic of France in Creuse!

For the occasion, we expanded our normal repertoire and the number of our readers. Gordon Williams joined us for the reading in English of Bilbo’s encounter with the dragon Smaug and new member Christine Andrieu (one of the regular members of Partage de Lectures, our partners) read extracts from Riddles in the Dark and The Old Forest.

It was fitting that the department had chosen the theme of ‘Tolkien and Trees’ for its first involvement in the Nuit de la Lecture, as the death of Tolkien’s remaining son, Christopher, at the age of 95 had been announced just two days earlier.

The lectures received a glowing report from La Montagne, who reported that “The associations Partage de Lectures and Open Door delighted the public around the British writer JRR Tolkien” and described the readings as “perfectly orchestrated and interpreted with great talent”.