Pulitzer prizes and sugar packets

What I read consists of so much more than words held together by a cover, or a famous signature at the end of a piece. I won’t deny that I’ve read Shakespeare and Cormac McCarthy; I read the award-winners and classics like anyone else who wants to sound learned. I’ve also read some of those generic bestsellers that make people dress up like vampires and witches and start entire cyber domains to hero-worship their favourite authors. We can debate about the pros and cons of every genre and style of writing, whether popular, critically acclaimed or largely unnoticed by either the masses or the experts. A lot of what I read, however, falls into none of the categories.

I remember once reading the back of a sugar packet that referred to the fact that South African women had trusted and used that brand for decades. Because obviously only women are ever in the kitchen, so it’s the women who use the sugar, the women who purchase it to sweeten up their darling husbands’ tea. I haven’t bought that brand of sugar since.

You may wonder, at this point in my ramblings, what my point is. While an epic novel may inspire my literary muse and make me think, I’m reading words everywhere I go, and all of these carry the potential to impact on me. I read billboards, ads, facebook updates and lecture notes on a daily basis. Words are everywhere, without rank and with a message. They all have an impact.