“Avid readers, prolific writers, wannabe writers… unite.”
A literary campfire where readers become writers and writers find readers. No algorithms. No followers. Just good writing, honest conversation, and people who care about the same things you do.
200+ original authors writing under pen names like Aragorn, Dharma Bum, and Phaedrus. 800 recovered pieces from the original archive (2000–2003). Same soul, better tools.
Fresh
Fleeting eternity Unfettered temerity Fury of youth Incandescent clarity Song of life Music of strife Compositions of perceptions Ode of the Knife Wings of life Chains of reason Paralyzing analysis Cycle of season Freedom of choice In cacophony of noise Elusive notion of joy Post...
Curated
Enroute to work, I pass her space. Every morn as I pass, walking, by the wall of glass, I see her. Sometimes she’s on the phone, almost always alone, with her computer. In her eyes I can see, A vac
An Attempt with French A short story attempting to justify a common human trait, jealousy: I am in French class now. Madame Lamont uses exaggerated hand gestures and forms complex vowels with her ou
Stargazer Posted by dizzy on Monday July 03, @11:10AM All he wanted to do was just sit in the park and merge with the stars. And a child, her balloons and her mother... With a sigh I stretch my leg
It's my struggle to become an individual,sitting all alone in my balcony in midnight.... I'm all alone in the wing, most of the people have gone on the weekend. I am sitting all alone in the balcony w
Hirsute Pursuits Schnozzle shearing I once nicked my nose while trying to shave a nose hair, which eluded the razor and swung back out from under the cartilage to stare me in the mirror, as if to say
From the Archive
Men are from entertainment.. women are for enterntainment Who is responsible....the nebulous insights into a man's actions and a woman's world..IIM CAL becomes a window to the world... Mail from xxx
Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained This is a chaotic attempt at lending a poetic feel to a highly charged discussion that we three lost souls had one wild night, all characters in this work are real an
Hirsute Pursuits Schnozzle shearing I once nicked my nose while trying to shave a nose hair, which eluded the razor and swung back out from under the cartilage to stare me in the mirror, as if to say
SORRY PAAJI!!!! "sorry paaji!!!" That was sachin tendulkar’s comment when the greatest indian allrounder broke down in front of the cameras during a bbc interview.and.. ..and that is precisely what
"Lose yourself"- From the 8 mile soundtrack. (source: azlyrics.com) EMINEM LYRICS "Lose Yourself" [Eminem's intro: Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity To seize everything you ever wanted- One
Enroute to work, I pass her space. Every morn as I pass, walking, by the wall of glass, I see her. Sometimes she’s on the phone, almost always alone, with her computer. In her eyes I can see, A vac
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Everything you can do
No more switching between five apps. Reading, writing, community, and books — together.
Post musings, stories, poetry, reviews, humor, or share great writing you found elsewhere. The button says “Post Article,” not “Publish.” The barrier is low and the tone is warm.
Your personal collection. Track what you own, what you're reading, and what stayed with you. Search any book, shelve it, rate it, and capture reflections when you finish.
Private micro-communities of people you trust. Create a circle, invite friends by pen name, and build a space where conversation goes deeper. Think book club, not broadcast.
Go beyond articles. Create a book — solo or with friends in your circle. Organize chapters, collaborate in real time, and let an AI writing assistant help you draft, outline, and find your voice.
Most Loved, Most Interesting, Most Controversial — community-surfaced writing that resonated.
A shared conversation across the whole community. One question, everyone's invited.
Discovery through people, not algorithms. Follow someone for their taste — what they read and what they write.
Not another reading app
Every major platform makes you pick a side. We don't.
Your library and your writing live side by side. Goodreads splits them. Medium ignores books. We connect both.
You follow someone because you trust their taste — what they read and what they write. No engagement hacks.
No follower counts. No subscriber metrics. Just thoughtful writing, honest conversation, and people who care.
Our Story
Live2Read was born in 2000 — created by a bunch of friends in the earliest days of the consumer internet. Built on Zope and Squishdot (a Python-based CMS that was ahead of its time), it became a literary community with a soul.
The tagline said it all: “Avid readers, prolific writers, wannabe writers, any and every kind of the same, unite, one forum, and spread the bug thereof.”
That word — bug — captured everything. Not a product. A contagion. The idea that reading and writing are things you catch from other people, and then can't help passing on.
By 2003, the community had 200+ contributing authors writing under colorful pen names — Aragorn, Phaedrus, Dark Lord, Dharma Bum — posting poetry, stories, and musings every day. Contributors spanned from Mumbai to Minnesota, Calcutta to California. The commenting culture was vibrant: the best discussions were as rich as the pieces themselves.
What made it special? There was no distinction between “reader” and “writer.” Everyone was both. The button didn't say “Publish.” It said “Post Article.” That kept the barrier low and the tone warm.
Twenty-five years later, readers and writers are scattered across platforms that don't understand them. Goodreads treats you as a consumer. Medium treats you as a publisher. Nobody assumes you're both. Nobody builds for the conversation between reading and writing — where the real magic lives. We're reviving that original idea with the same warmth and better tools.
800 pieces across 7 categories
Sit down, browse the archive, share something you've been thinking about. Then start a circle with the people you trust.