Catherine Lacey, On Reading

Writers live in reading. They're reading the odd line in the email repeatedly. They're reading the lines overheard on the street or through the wall. They're reading lyrics as they're sung. They're reading books and stories, of course, because writers write books and stories as a way to process all you've read. And if you're not reading, you're not writing. Like a sink unhooked from pipes, turn the dials all day-- nothing will happen if you don't read.

{Catherine Lacey is the author of Nobody Is Ever Missing. Her work has been recently published in The New York Times, Guernica, Granta, Adult Magazine, Buzzfeed Books and others. She has earned fellowships from NYFA, Columbia University and OMI International Arts Center. Her website can be found here.}