Editor’s Note

I was being a bit of a data geek the other day, looking through our subscription and sales information (don’t worry, it gets more interesting!), and I noticed with delight how much Oh Reader is being read around the world. The United States, Canada, Singapore, Croatia, Argentina, Scotland, Portugal… the list goes on.

I’m Australian, and I have lived in various countries in my lifetime. Wherever I go, I make sure to visit bookstores and libraries, to seek out literary sites, and to attend bookish events (there are storytelling nights everywhere!). I once went to the Buenos Aires Book Fair. I have a membership at a library in Charlotte, North Carolina, despite never having lived there. I bought rom-coms at a bookstore in a Kuala Lumpur mall. I went to Kafka’s house in Prague.

How strange—and how wonderful—now, to see that Oh Reader is being read by people in all of these cities. I like to think of Londoners reading the magazine on the Tube, and of Viennese bookworms (or Bücherwürmer, if you like) paging through it at a coffee shop. I like to think that Icelandic folks read Oh Reader while they ride those cute horses, but I think there might be a couple of inaccuracies in that daydream.

I know I tend to wax lyrical about the bookish community, but that’s only because it’s a remarkably marvelous thing. There are few things that I can think of that are universally revered. There’s food, of course, and love and friendship. Third, I think, must be books. After years in New York, I’m now back in Australia (for how long? Who knows?), and I feel beyond lucky to be able to keep making this magazine from wherever I am, and for it to reach you, wherever you are.

In this issue, we share stories about memes, Madame Bovary in absurdity, accidental book clubs, literary cities, pet grief, learning addictions, musicals, breakups and a Black woman’s experience with Jane Austen—all of it related to reading. And, I dare say, all of it relatable around the world.

Gemma Peckham

Editor

Oh Reader