'Celebrating The Gifts of Reading for the Next Generation’ ~ ASLA Webinar Series 2026, JULY

In this conversation, Jennie will speak about the essay by British writer Robert Macfarlane that inspired her two anthologies, the process of ‘curating’; the timeliness of this latest collection given the widespread concerns about ‘the reading crisis’; and the work of Room to Read, the organization that has brought literacy and the love of reading to tens of millions of children in the developing world. Jennie Orchard has been involved with the world of books and publishing for more than four decades, initially in London, later in Australia and Asia, with extensive experience as an editor and an agent, also literary event organiser.