In celebration of National Poetry Month, I thought it’d be a great idea to feature a quote by great poet John Keats. Enjoy! 
Love him or hate him, there is a certain amount of admiration that Stephen King inspires. Having been in the business of writing for over 40 years, with around 50 novels and 200 short stories under his belt, he has built himself a name as one of the masters of his genre and won awards such as the Bram Stoker Award for his spine-tingling horror.
So how would you feel about a good hour of King’s time? Sounds like it could be insightful! Here is a video of Stephen King himself, expounding on topics as varied as his writing methods to a few thoughts about Twilight. Have fun and don’t be shy about letting us know your thoughts!
If you logged onto Google today, you may have noticed the above doodle of what appears to be a Kindle featuring the words “Don’t Panic”. No, it’s not some strange recommendation for your e-reader, but rather homage to Douglas Adams who is most well-known for penning the much beloved comic sci-fi book series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Today would have been Adams’ 61st birthday which is the reason for all the space related hullabaloo! If you’ve never had a chance to make friends with Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and Marvin the Paranoid Android, there’s no time like the present! I myself plan on dusting off my own copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide and giving it another read.
Illiteracy is a big issue in almost any country in the world, yet somehow I find it much more disturbing to learn about students who are taught to read but not how to read books and literature. And there is definitely more than one reason why David Toscana’s impassioned New York Times article, The Country That Stopped Reading (which discusses the plight of literacy in Mexico), truly hits close to home.
I spent a large amount of my time as a child in Mexico, and, having been shortly enrolled in the public school system while there, I have first-hand knowledge of how the educational system in this country works. I know that emphasis was placed on memorization rather than analytic thinking, and I don’t remember at all being encouraged to read literature.
To read Toscana’s article as he states: “Once a reasonably well-educated country, Mexico took the penultimate spot, out of 108 countries, in a Unesco assessment of reading habits a few years ago.”, I can’t help but feel a pang. And like many who are Mexican citizens or who consider Mexico a home, I can’t help but ask: How is this possible? And more importantly: What can we do to change this?”
Literacy is key to the development of a nation and I can’t help but feel fear for Mexico’s future.
What are your thoughts and opinions on this? What do you think can be done to improve the situation? We’d love to hear what you have to say!
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