To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of author, Arthur Ransome, there will be a marathon reading of his classic children’s story Swallows and Amazons at Coniston, on Sunday 3 September. The marathon reading finale ends a summer-long exhibition at the Ruskin Museum in Coniston about Ransome, Russia and storytelling. A number of celebrity readers have already signed up to take part and it is expected that the book’s 31 chapters will take around nine hours to read.

The event is being organised by Dr Chris Routledge who is head of Continuing Education, English Language and Literature, at Liverpool University, in association with the Lake District National Park and the Arthur Ransome Trust. Also supporting the reading are Stephen and Janine Sykes who live at Hill Top, Ransome’s last home in the Lake District.

Another reader will be screenwriter Andrea Gibb who adapted Swallows and Amazons for a new film version last year, and 14 year old actor Hannah Jayne Thorp, who played the part of Peggy in last year’s film version of Swallows and Amazons. along Christina Hardyment, author of several Ransome-related books and senior executor for the Arthur Ransome Literary Estate will also read.

Dr Routledge said that he had been inundated with requests to read a chapter of the book.

“It’s clearly still a favourite with many people who are well past their own childhood,” he said.

Dr Routledge, a great fan of Arthur Ransome, previously organised a marathon reading of Moby Dick at the Merseyside Maritime Museum; a much longer novel, that event took three days.

“It seems an appropriate way to celebrate the life and work of Ransome,” he said. “We are delighted that the Lake District National Park  has offered their site at the Coniston Boating Centre on the lake shore. And our partners at the Arthur Ransome Trust are providing marquees to keep our readers and visitors under canvas, in true Swallows and Amazons fashion.”

chris-reading-moby-dick

Dr Chris Routledge

Dr Routledge’s 13 year old daughter Caitlin will be one of the younger readers, along with Elizabeth Kaye, the 11 year old daughter of Jonathan and Caroline Kaye, owners of Windermere’s Cedar Manor Hotel, who are avid fans of the Ransome stories.

Also taking part is Becky Heaton Cooper, director of the Heaton Cooper Studio, who is currently reading Swallows and Amazons to her six year old twins Alfie and Ophelia. “They love the book. They’ve not yet sailed, but we’ve paddled in a Canadian canoe to ‘Wild Cat Island’ on Coniston, so they identify with all the adventures,” said Becky. “We have a remarkable literary and artistic heritage here in the Lakes and it is a pleasure to connect our family of artists with one of the great writers.”