Roast Books has released an unusual and beautiful collection of short stories called Interactions. This is a one off, illustrated collection which celebrates the wide array of stories which have been used by the health charity, InterAct Reading Service.
I first heard about this charity when one of it’s reader/writers, Alan McCormick, launched his own story collection called Dogsbodies and Scumsters which I blogged about here. InterAct Reading Service is a Guardian Charity Award Winner and the only UK charity dedicated to supporting stroke recovery via the spoken word. Through InterAct, over 200 professional actors are regularly visiting hospitals and stroke clubs throughout the country. As InterAct explains:
There is now a growing body of evidence to support the view that reading and conversational interaction stimulates the brain, and via this the rehabilitation and recovery of the stroke patient is improved.
Some of the stories in the collection were especially commissioned. Others are gifts to the publication. It includes stories from the past three winners of the Ruth Rendell Short Story Award, as well as speeches by Alan Ayckbourn and Max Stafford-Clark. If that wasn’t enough, it even opens with a poem by Seamus Heaney.
This is a wonderful book full of wonderful stories in support of an important charity. Congratulations to Roast Books for bringing this out. I urge you to get a copy. You’ll be helping yourself and many others.
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