Let Us Now Praise Older Women Readers

Found this very interesting quote in today's edition of the Shelf Awareness newsletter. It's by Canadian writer Katherine Govier (whose latest novel is The Ghost Brush), and the full National Post article can be found here.

"You do hear, in publishing circles, the occasional complaint that the audience is 'graying.' Yep, it is. It is also loyal, intelligent, informed...opinionated, and not going anywhere. These women have years of reading ahead of them. They will not be switching their allegiance to video games or social media. They will read, and discuss what they read, as long as they have eyes in their head. Anyway, they’re not all gray.... The audience is a bigger mix than it first appears to be. But yes, it is mainly older women. These are the buyers, the ones who get the ball rolling. Let’s face it, they are the mainstay and the lifeblood of books in our country. Maybe in most countries.... So let’s hear it for older women who read. Without their wisdom, curiosity and lust for life, their humour, loyalty and pride of place, we would be nowhere."

Nice that somebody has noticed.