Written by FrancesMacmillan, 3rd September 2026
July 2026 has been a very special month for us at The Reader as we had the great pleasure of hosting the wonderful Estela Meije, who travelled all the way from Buenos Aires to be with us.
During her time with us in the UK, Estela visited a wide range of Shared Reading groups in Liverpool and London, delivered two Shared Reading Masterclasses for us at Calderstones and also two in London, and generally spent lots of time in the company of fellow readers, group members and Reader Leaders alike, doing what we all love best – Shared Reading!
A special thank you to the Reader Leaders in London and Liverpool who welcomed Estela into their Shared Reading groups and for making her feel so welcome.
If you would like to do some more Shared Reading with Estela, please do sign up to her wonderful online Shared Reading group via the Reading Room and do feel free to share the link. You will find Estela’s group listed as The Reading Experience and it runs every Wednesday at 7.00-8.00pm – there you will find ‘abundant life’ indeed as the candle of Estela’s practice continues to shine.
In the meantime, we wanted to share these lovely words from Estela herself:
There are journeys that stay with us long after we return home. This past July, my time in London and Liverpool as an International Reader Leader with The Reader was one of them.
Although I have been leading Shared Reading groups online from Buenos Aires, where I am based, and attending online groups for years, seeing so many groups flourish in person was deeply moving and inspiring.
I visited groups in hospitals, libraries, theatres and community settings, and everywhere I went I was welcomed with extraordinary warmth by Reader Leaders and members who, in many cases, had never met me before.
I was also honoured to deliver two masterclasses -The Art of Microfiction and Voices from Argentina -in London and Liverpool, sharing a little of my own country through its literature.
I have returned home with a grateful heart, inspired by the generosity of everyone I met and the many friends I made along the way.
The journey reminded me, once again, that Shared Reading connects us all through powerful words, engenders deep and meaningful conversations across cultures and teaches us to see and listen to one another more compassionately. I am eager to continue building communities of readers across the globe. A big thank you to all of you once again.
Warmest regards, Estela
