Book lovers get radio show on Siren

Lincoln literati are about to get their own radio show. Siren, Lincoln’s first community radio station, will debut The Reading Room on Sunday, July 4.

The Reading Room will feature a guide of all thing literary in the city and the surrounding areas, with book reviews, interviews and reading sessions with local and national authors.

Behind The Reading Room are Paul Tyler, 33, presenting the show, and Jonathan Haw, 35, the producer, who also works for the County Council. Both Tyler and Haw are volunteers with Siren, which broadcasts in Lincoln on 107.3 FM.

“My love of books started with the Ladybird books I had as a child,” said Tyler, who is a factory worker in Lincoln. “I started to read more in my early twenties, so the key to never being bored is to always have a book on the go.”

“The idea behind The Reading Room is to promote and encourage reading and writing for all age groups. I’m a big fan of spoken word and short stories, so to produce and broadcast them at a local level gives everyone involved valuable experience,” Tyler added.

The show has found writers from the region through the Writing East Midlands agency, and the first book review panel will be discussing Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss, set to be an opinion divider among experts and listeners alike.

The first programme will also feature an interview and reading with the Lincoln Phoenix Writers Circle. Aimee Wilkinson from the Derby-based spoken word collective Hello Hubmarine will be the studio guest. She will be talking about the collective, and perform a spoken word piece.

“My favourite book at the moment is One Day by David Nicholls, I just didn’t want it to end. You really get to know the characters, and I’ll be reviewing it for the programme’s August edition,” said Tyler. “In that review I’ll be thinking about the loss we feel at the end of a good book, and the worry about the next book coming up to the mark.”

The Reading Room will be broadcast on the first Sunday of every month between 10am and 12pm, and a repeat of the show can be heard on the following Tuesday evening between 7pm and 9pm. You can also listen online on Siren’s website.

Photo: Ian Hayhurst via Flickr