Kuala Lumpur
5-8 February 2007

The Reading Across Cultures seminar was inspired by the long-running annual Oxford Conference on the Teaching of Literature. It followed a very similar format and was organised as a result of the popular demand from previous years' participants at the Oxford Conference.

This seminar was designed to meet the professional needs of English language and literature. teachers in the region. However, the seminar not only left many participants with new knowledge and ideas, it was fun! The participants' met with literature academics, writers and other teachers in a series of workshops, readings, informal discussions that were lively and informative.

The participants were not disappointed with the transition of the Oxford Conference idea; coming from various countries including Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the UK, there were varying expectations but all appeared to be positive about the success of the seminar. Many of the participants stated how the seminar worked well because of its relevance to their jobs and the 'practical development' they experienced.

One participant said 'The intercultural, cross-sector make up of the seminar seems to have been at the heart of the seminar’s success, inspiring intercultural awareness, as well as sparking creativity and encouraging the sharing of ideas and methods.'

There were other participants who enjoyed meeting scholars, teachers and writers such as Alan Pulverness, John McRae, John Corbett and Roger Robinson, and believed it afforded them in the region the opportunity to talk and decide what else needs to be done in the areas of language, culture and literature.'

The participants also took part in an online chat with author Abdulrazak Gurnah after a workshop to discuss his New Writing 14 short story 'My Mother Lived on a Farm in Africa'. Read this online chat in full on www.encompassculture.com.

There are downloadable teaching materials for 'My Mother Lived on a Farm in Africa' on the New Writing website.