The history of live literature
It can look like reading a bedtime story aloud, listening to an author talk about their work, participating in a poetry slam, stepping into the world of a book through drama exercises, cosplay or LARP, organising an immersive escape room around the world of a novel, or shaping new stories together using table-top role playing games or improv theatre.
As long as humans have had language, we have told stories. Many works that are printed literary classics today were once part of long and complex oral storytelling traditions. These stories were spoken for decades or millennia before they were ever written down. Among these are the Iliad and the Odyssey and One Thousand and One Nights. The shared audience experience of a recited text has a much longer history than that of general population literacy. For ages, storytelling was a social activity. Live literature was how we interacted with stories. But this gradually changed.
Public libraries and education systems
A number of small and large revolutions fundamentally changed the way we think about reading. Through advances in printing technology in the 15th century, books became cheaper. Thanks to the establishment of public libraries, they also became more accessible. And through public education systems, more and more people learned to read and write. Amazing developments took place on the reading promotion front. Alongside these advancements, public perceptions of what constituted reading began shifting, too. When we talk about ‘reading’ today, we generally refer to an activity carried out silently and individually, by use of a printed, physical book. This is an important and meaningful way to practice reading and engage with literature. But it is not the only one. In order to reach young people who currently do not access their right to read – for individual or structural reasons – live literature methods are crucial complements in reading promotion.
The future of live literature
The truth is that we still need shared reading and live literature as methods to use alongside individual, silent reading. The live literature toolbox can be especially important for young people who may be tired of compulsory reading at school, may not see themselves as readers, and may need to overcome tremendous structural barriers to access their right to read. Live literature can lower the threshold, create positive experiences of reading, and provide a shortcut to wild, voluntary and joyful reading.