Why read?

There is a curious bite to the air now. Notwithstanding the terrifying levels of AQI that threaten to permanently damage our lungs, heart, and brain, the air feels promising—of new beginnings, of renewed potential, of reevaluating the old and embracing the new. It is not only the first month of a new calendar year that makes one want to rethink the past, it is also the way the January sun hits one just right, the way the dustgreen leaves sway as one wraps the shawl around them a little tight, the way one cracks the spine of a new book open, curling up with a piping hot cup of dudh cha.

Exactly a year ago, after having read a poem titled “Egg Drop Soup” on our Literature page, a regular reader reached out to share that she simply had to make herself the same soup that day.

Elsewhere, the world remains as terrifying and frustrating as ever. Battles long fought before—for equality, for access to public space, for participation in politics, for living a dignified, human life—are being waged again. As the world increasingly turns inwards, where borders tighten and laws preventing movement become stricter, we turn, as we must, to books. To fiction’s ability to transcend borders. To poetry’s ability to see through the pain of others. To the world of make believe and storytelling, of kinder voices and softer ideas, with the hope that we will recall, and indeed, reembrace the very essentiality of our human existence. 

When I think about reading, and I do think about reading quite a lot as this is what I do at work and at leisure, I think about reading’s ability to affect and its ability to enact change. Against the harsh realities of the world we must inhabit, reading has allowed me to hold a sort of tenderness that has often cushioned the brutal blows the world throws at us. When I read through submissions—creative submissions as well as student work—I cannot help but marvel at the sheer privilege of bearing witness to someone else’s voice and vulnerability, courage and conviction, all expressed through written words. 

I recently read a submission where Joseph Stalin’s reading habits were discussed. The point was that being a great reader did little to deter him from his dictatorial proclivities. Is it a rather sobering counterpoint to the case in hand here? Perhaps. Here at Star Books and Literature though, nothing is going to stop us from hoping that you will pick up our pages on Thursdays and Saturdays. That maybe you will find a poignant piece here, a remarkable one there, and maybe, just maybe, pick up your own pen and write a line or four. 

Exactly a year ago, after having read a poem titled “Egg Drop Soup” on our Literature page, a regular reader reached out to share that she simply had to make herself the same soup that day. 

I hope our pages help you find your soup. 

Dr Nazia Manzoor teaches English at North South University. She is also Editor, Star Books and Literature. Reach her at nazia.manzoor@gmail.com.