EDITORIAL

Criminal negligence

A fierce divide exists in publishing between genre and literary fiction. In the past the merest hint that a literary lion was dipping her nib into commercial fiction drew sniffs of derision from the literary cognoscenti. If you doubt literary snobbery still exists, look at recent ‘literary’ winners of the Romantic Novel of the Year Award and count how many protested that ‘actually I don’t really write romance’ – though this didn’t stop them pocketing the £10,000 cheque.

For thoroughgoing genre writers this snobbery is particularly bitter: no matter how many readers appreciate their work and how much cash they bring into the publishing sector, they are resolutely ignored by literary critics and prize juries alike.

But there are signs that, in one genre at least, things are changing. Crime is attracting literary prize-winners, figures such as John Banville and Kate Atkinson. Call me cynical, but can it be a coincidence that as crime sales rocket, literary authors have segued into the genre

But whatever your genre, this issue of Mslexia should have something for you. On page 19 Clare Chadderton spills celebrity secrets to reveal the murky world of ghostwriting, while on page 17, Patricia Duncker argues that it’s time older women got a fairer deal from fiction.

Snobbery is not welcome in the world of Mslexia: what matters is not what you write, but that you write.

Danuta Kean
Guest Editor