I thought this was an interesting question and she gave an interesting answer that basically boils down to “I read everywhere, all the time.”  For someone with a busy life such as hers, she has to multitask to fit in all the reading she has to do for research for novels, reviews and for fun.  She reads while she cooks and cleans and while she exercises and travels.

One tip she gave for people who are super busy but want to fit in some good literature is to always have a book close to hand.  This is excellent advice and something I do myself.  At any given moment I have a book on or near my person.  Whether I’m on the bus, waiting in line, by the lake or at the coffee shop I have a book.  Or two.  I have at least one book on the go for every room in my house.  And I love to read while I cook, sometimes to the detriment of my supper.

Now, I will admit that this habit does add to the general disarray in my house.  There’s books stacked all over the place; on every table and in every purse.  But no matter how busy life gets I can always find spare moments to read and I always have a book ready when those moments arise.  I think it also helps me lower my stress level because I’ve got someplace where I can escape no matter where I am.

I’d like to know, how do you read?

Ryan – Managing Editor

Sometime in the miasma of the beat generation, William Burroughs was inspired to cut up anything and everything text to reconstitute into poetry. Being an uncreative sort, I find a certain guilty pleasure in this sort of act.

Dead Whistle Stop Already End was originally published in Floating Bear 24 in Sept./Oct. 1962.  You can read it at http://realitystudio.org/texts/the-poetry-of-william-s-burroughs/dead-whistle-stop-already-end/.

Afton- Online Editor

Having been named for one of his most famous songs, I’ve always had a soft spot for Robbie Burns.  My grandmother asked my parents to name me for the river in Flow Gently Sweet Afton.  I enjoy the humour found in a lot of Burns’s work, but it’s his love songs that move me.  One of the most beautiful and haunting songs is Ae Fond Kiss.

You can find this and many other works from the Great Bard at http://www.robertburns.org/works/. 

Recently the Literary Trust in Britain (twitter @Literacy_Trust) rolled out a new poster campaign to promote literacy among Britons. The campaign uses celebrity appeal to promote its message. According to the Literacy Trust, “The celebrity ambassadors, with their urban appeal, speak directly to young people from multicultural backgrounds. The posters show how much [these celebrities] enjoy reading and challenging stereotypes of readers.” And there certainly are stereotypes of readers, and writers.

When you’re at a party, meeting new people, there’s always the question: what do you do? I used to joke with my girlfriend I was going to tell people I was a poet. Of course, the joke was poets never make any money, but still have a certain cachet. There’s something romantic about that cachet–that respect for the literary word. There’s also something elitist or inaccessible, which can unfortunately put people off of reading and writing.

The Literary Trust campaign is looking to make literacy accessible and acceptable to urban, multicultural Britons, by breaking the image of literature as being elitist or inaccessible. All Rights Reserved would like the same thing for Canadians. We have such a rich literary culture that we should all share in it. We should all have the opportunity to contribute to it, too.

The popularity of social media shows we have an interest in reading the words of others, and sharing our own. But, for me, it’s still nice to flip through a book or journal. That’s why we hope to continue to publish excellent literary works for years to come. We also wouldn’t mind seeing more publications appearing. I know not everyone is a writer (I’m not much of one myself), but anyone with an interest can dabble. That’s the great thing about the written word: it’s available to anyone who can read or write. And that’s why we promote literacy. We want to see everyone have access to our Canadian literary culture–as readers and writers.