<p style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt 0cm;">Today's poem is 'A Fallow Deer at the Lonely House' by Thomas Hardy. It's read by Jess Harrison from The Reader.</p>
<p style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 7.5pt 0cm;">Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn &amp; Frank Johnson.</p>

I Heard a Bird Sing: Festive Poetry Calendar 2023

Welcome to The Reader Podcast. The Reader is a national charity bringing about a Reading Revolution so that everyone can experience and enjoy great literature, which we believe is a tool for helping humans survive and live well. Through our global Shared Reading movement, powered by 1,000 volunteers and many partnerships, we bring thousands of people together every month through weekly Shared Reading groups. 
Our podcast is for anyone who loves books and believes they can be powerful tools for change, and wants to hear more of the powerful, personal responses that reading can provide. It will feature great guests, conversations and thoughts about books and reading, and show how reading together improves wellbeing, strengthens communities and sparks the change needed in the world.

The Reader is a registered charity and we rely on the generous support of individuals and organisations to help us change lives through Shared Reading around the UK. Please visit www.thereader.org.uk to donate and find out how you can get involved with our work.
We are grateful for the kind support of our core funders Arts Council England, National Lottery Community Fund, the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and the Steve Morgan Foundation.