Sunday 22 September 2013

Are you a book snob?

In January I posted a blog piece entitled Literary Fiction V Genre Fiction which stimulated lively discussion in various book groups online, so I suspect it is a topic of interest to many writers and readers. 
There's also an interesting post on literary versus genre fiction over at Jane Friedman: http://janefriedman.com/2013/07/11/writing-on-the-ether-98/

So when I came across this post by Matt Haig at the Booktrust, I wanted to share it. Called 30 things to tell a book snob, this is a contentious subject, judging by all the comments on his blog post. What do you think?


Along the same lines, I have just read the blurb for the University of Kent’s Creative Writing Centre and it made me growl!  For example:

“You won’t write mass-market thrillers or children’s fiction on our programmes.”  
Why not?  What’s wrong with children’s fiction?   Or thrillers?  Are they not worthy of study or creation?   

And,  “We don’t want our students to write inside genre and formula but outside, where real art is found.”  Really?  And a definition of real art? 

Click below to get annoyed. http://www.kent.ac.uk/english/research/centres/creative-writing.html

Rant over........for now......

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4 comments:

  1. Snobbery, snobbery everywhere and not a drop to drink.

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    1. Hi Gillian - thanks for stopping by. I love the quote on your profile about importance, btw. I have not yet got to grips with Google circles... took me ages to sort out Fb and Linked in. Must tackle it as I get lots of messages about joining circles...

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  2. I don't read certain genres as a matter of personal preference, but you want to I'm okay with that. If someone is reading a book, I'm happy they are reading.

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    1. Hi Toinette - nicely put! Reading is such a joy and a life-changer that we shouldn't restrict ourselves.

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