We are pleased to bring you the Spring 2004 edition of The Reader, our tenth volume. You may wonder why you've never seen The Reader before - or if you have, not in the last year. The magazine was published in 2002, but wasn't released until the last week of the academic term. In 2003, no issue was released at all. This year, we have not only revived Hampshire's tradition of literary publishing, but enhanced that tradition through the internet.

This year's Reader is a somewhat dark collection of work, but it's not without humor. It is wry, smart, sexy, political, and ungoverned by thematic borders. It takes us to physical and emotional places that perhaps we've never been, and it takes us home again - wherever home may be.

We received a stunning number of submissions throughout the 2003-04 year, and as a result, were forced to make very difficult choices. We want to thank everyone that submitted, and encourage you all to keep giving us your work in the future. Without the dedication and vision of the Hampshire community, this publication would not be possible.

- Sean Bishop, Gregg Cornish, and Emma Tobin

To submit your original poetry, prose, or black and white photography to The Reader, contact Sean Bishop. For questions regarding the web site, contact Hilary Stoddard.