Heather Read (formerly Parsons) has invested two decades in the Canadian publishing industry. After earning an honours double major degree (with distinction) in psychology and sociology at York University, Heather held various marketing & HR positions before she began her publishing career at Canadian Mass Media Inc. She was quickly promoted to book category manager and national account administrator, overseeing the promotions and co-op programs at national chains.
In 2001, Heather moved from Hogtown to Cowtown, where she worked as a field sales rep for Michael Reynolds for twelve years, representing indie publishers to Alberta stores and libraries. While in this role, she was shortlisted for CBA Rep of the Year; volunteered at Calgary Wordfest, the Calgary Women’s Centre, and VoicePrint Radio; and served on the board of the Alberta Book Reps Association for twelve years. Heather also did her Interdisciplinary Masters Degree part-time while working, specializing in Global Community Studies. Her final project about Tara Books, a children’s book publisher; took her to Chennai, India, where her focus was on exploring the role of book publishers as social change agents, on which Aurora Journal wrote an article.
Her master’s thesis, “Publishing for Social Change: Tara Books, Democracy and Social Transformation,” examined the roles publishers can play as social change agents, improving social justice, environmental, and economic conditions in communities, in post-colonial capitalism—something she remains a passionate advocate of today. She is committed to running Read + Co as a social business, and annually donates a portion of every book sold to a local community organization through the Read + Seed fund.
Heather moved to BC in 2013 to take on the role of sales manager and in-house library and independent bookstore specialist for Heritage Group Distribution and Greystone Books.
While at Heritage she again immersed herself in the local book community, volunteering on an insane amount of committee and boards: Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia (ABPBC) and the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP), ABPBC Read Local start-up, coordinating annual BC Book Days, as well as BC Bookfairs as co-president of the BC Rep association, and served on the City of Victoria Poet Laureate committee. She currently serves on the board at Ptarmigan Arts and the Western Book Reps Association.
Her poems and songs have been published in two anthologies including Resistance: Righteous Rage in the Age of #MeToo, edited by Sue Goyette. She regularly performs as a musician in Peach & Quiet with two studio albums, featured on radio programs around the world including CKUA, CBC, BBC Bristol and their albums hit #1 on Folk Charts in Canada and selected as a BBC Scotland feature album and remained on the North American charts for over 18 months collectively.