This extract from Andrew O’Hagan’s novel, Be Near Me, is centred around a boat trip that the narrator – a priest – is taking with two of his young parishioners. 

Sinéad Morrissey's poem, Genetics, gives us a wistful recollection of the poet as a celebration of the coming together of her parents. 

Gillian Clarke's poem, 'Lament', is an elegy, an expression of grief.

China Mieville's text is taken from the Prologue of his book called 'King Rat', and is the description of an ambitious rat setting off on a mission.  

This extract from Kei Miller's novel, The Same Earth, tells the story of Jonathon and his supposed drowning in the river.

This extract is taken from Keith Gray's novel, The Chain. The extract deals with a young girl who gets engrossed in reading from a book to her father, who is dying in hospital. She is discovering the inner joy and power of books.

In this series of six lessons, learners read the short story The Landlady by Roald Dahl. They speculate about the main characters, reflect on the themes within the story and explore some of the vocabulary from the text.