Most literary magazines focus on the craft of writing and cater to a highly select audience of writers, literary critics, and scholars of literature. In contrast, The Reader is a quarterly literary magazine aimed at the intelligent common reader.

The Reader not only publishes short fiction and poetry by new and established writers but also contains many other features, such as essays on language, writing, and reading; a literary quiz; a publishing industry gossip column, Our Spy in NY ; and book reviews. The Reader offers rich, engaging reading for book lovers, combining high-quality content with a genuine commitment to the dedicated reader. Volume 21, entitled Ancient Worlds, continues The Reader ‘s tradition of celebrating the act of reading in all its forms.

The Reader is one of the best things to come through the letterbox. –Seamus Heaney