tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post1625468838295837024..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: Must All Have Prizes? Cathy ButlerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-51667880998099747092014-04-14T11:15:58.687+01:002014-04-14T11:15:58.687+01:00Dianne, I agree to a point - but I think there has...Dianne, I agree to a point - but I think there has to be more to it. If everyone knew - and freely admitted to themselves and others - that they had won the prize simply because their publisher had been buying up Waterstone's or because it was Buggins' turn, then why would they be pleased when they won? They must see it as at least in part an endorsement of the book and of themselves as writers. And I think they'd be right to do so, despite all the other factors involved.Catherine Butlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693526864905868829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-25282376132751063712014-04-13T19:49:57.754+01:002014-04-13T19:49:57.754+01:00I believe on the whole, parents who are choosing a...I believe on the whole, parents who are choosing a book as a gift, or helping a child to choose at a library, generally don't care about prizes. Certainly children don't care, and don't choose a book because of a certain sticker on it. The people who do care about prizes are booksellers, librarians, publishers and the authors themselves. All that matters is that this particular group understands and accepts how certain prizes are awarded... whether they be by children, or by adult judges or whether they are 'paid' for. Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-72827453717980777462014-04-13T05:00:40.480+01:002014-04-13T05:00:40.480+01:00Interesting to hear it from the judges' viewpo...Interesting to hear it from the judges' viewpoint - and good point about books written for children, not for adult readers of children's books. I take this into account when I'm reading review books. I might say,"Not my cup of tea, but it's not written for me, is it?"<br /><br />It shouldn't be about, "Who won last time?" But that said, there are some writers, in my country at least, who only have to write a book to be on the shortlist and only have to be on the shortlist to win. There was a wonderful shortlist a few years back, but the winner was, predictably, the one written by the same writer who had won over and over - a writer whose books gather dust on my library shelves; the student who was reading the shortlist books with me was horrified to hear what had won. It was over- literary and full of purple prose. <br /><br />I actually remember one children's lit judge, some years ago, telling me that they didn't think funny books had enough "depth" to win and when I pointed out a funny book with plenty of depth that hadn't won that year, she said they also didn't like paperbacks! Is this the kind of judging we want? Because adults know better than kids what they should be reading?Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-6313279351953473712014-04-12T09:17:06.942+01:002014-04-12T09:17:06.942+01:00I've been on judging panels in the past, and t...I've been on judging panels in the past, and there are so many other factors that come into play. Do we want to encourage this particular author? Who may have already won all the other prizes so maybe we need to give someone new a chance? Who is filthy rich anyway? Who writes very well but is sooo depressing? Who happens to be my best friend so it would look very bad? Who is a horrible person and a bully who threatened to set the press on us if we DON't give him/her the prize, so lets teach him/her a lesson? (true story) The books that one, when I was judging, were not necessarily my personal favorites, but those that all the various judges could reach an agreement upon.Gilinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-44115003628979871872014-04-11T18:01:01.881+01:002014-04-11T18:01:01.881+01:00'm going to agree with C.J.Busby - at least to...'m going to agree with C.J.Busby - at least to the extent that I hate the tendency of the adult-selected prizes always to go for grim or worthy subjects (lots about death, usually) as if a good book must have a sombre theme. This is also mirrored by a tendency to choose books at the very top of the age-range, as if books for older children must automatically be more deserving of praise. I'm glad the founding of the Roald Dahl Prize has finally acknowledged that there is skill and merit involved in writing funny books!<br /><br />I think child-selected prizes are a great idea too - they are after all the intended readers. (Have to declare an interest because I've just won one - the Lancashire Fantastic Book Award - toots own trumpet!)Emma Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02718171070716804800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-88300029947522515142014-04-11T17:54:20.582+01:002014-04-11T17:54:20.582+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736432986938549046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-26658018186500143872014-04-11T12:43:48.930+01:002014-04-11T12:43:48.930+01:00Here's an interesting example of the problem. ...Here's an interesting example of the problem. I read a book recently with a children's reading group in my local primary which was a real rip-off Dickensian tale of orphan woe and despair in 19th C London - every chapter was another dive into greater poverty, debt, sickness, despair, etc, with every god bit of fortune immediately counteracted by a greater misfortune, until the very end when everything was rapidly tied up and resolved and the orphans became landed gentry. My adult critical faculties told me it was just one big cliche from beginning to end - but the kids loved it. They'd never read Dickens - so the plot seemed entirely original to them, and they empathised mightily with the orphans' ups and downs. So that would be a bad book that was good for those children - worthy of a prize or not?C.J.Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12288574235370421625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-17492997454420823762014-04-11T12:34:58.530+01:002014-04-11T12:34:58.530+01:00Great post! It's a very interesting move, to t...Great post! It's a very interesting move, to turn the previous discussion on its head in this way. Having veered towards the elitist end of the previous discussion, unsurprisingly I also veer towards it in this one - I think Nick's right, prizes have a role in celebrating what's 'good' in terms of writing styles/originality etc. (and keeping those millionaire celebrities in their place!) A prize for the most popular book is too likely to become a prize for the one with most marketing clout behind it, most recognisable author, most shiny cover, cheapest price, whatever... These already get their rewards from sales, as Nick says. <br /><br />But if we go with literary merit, the tricky issue is judging books AS children's books rather than by the criteria of adult literary fiction. Inevitably, it seems to me, the prizes are pulled in the direction of 'fine writing' at a sentence level, and emotional pull at a plot level, which biases towards older children's fiction, and darker (more lyrical) stories. I think this leaves whole swathes of fiction for younger children, that's not 'funny,funny' in a Roald Dahl prize way but is, as Elen says, 'entertaining' and fun and original and well crafted, very unrecognised. I rather despair of the many, many books being published now that seem to have one eye to the current prize-awarding trend of dark, emotional, damaged protagonists dealing with sad and gruelling circumstances, which are consistently billed as 'uplifting'...C.J.Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12288574235370421625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-75420803177977518052014-04-11T12:31:10.784+01:002014-04-11T12:31:10.784+01:00Thanks for the comments. I think it's interest...Thanks for the comments. I think it's interesting that Nick (with his appeal to "literary critical faculties") and Cat (with her worry about whether the books are good for children) have so clearly exemplified two of the approaches I described. I don't think we can do without either, but nor do I think that either captures the whole picture.Catherine Butlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693526864905868829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-59118152331654562022014-04-11T09:42:35.324+01:002014-04-11T09:42:35.324+01:00One of them is particularly dark - some of the oth...One of them is particularly dark - some of the others gloomy and tough reading but one lacks all hope. I don't think that is justified, especially for the future generation. If you lack hope what are you left with?catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-22500619561081507172014-04-11T08:51:25.879+01:002014-04-11T08:51:25.879+01:00Cat, I just had a look at the Carnegie list. I'...Cat, I just had a look at the Carnegie list. I've only read one of them - but going by the descriptions, most of them certainly sound like very tough reads! Nothing wrong with that, but it does seem to be a bit gloom-heavy. I suppose that's irrelevant - it's a question of which books were deemed to be the 'best'. Which brings us back to your point, Cathy...Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-32784151041024281402014-04-11T08:47:49.412+01:002014-04-11T08:47:49.412+01:00I think literary prizes should be decided by those...I think literary prizes should be decided by those with developed literary critical faculties. That seems only logical. The 'popular vote' can be decided (and is decided) in any case by pure sales. That 'prize' will be delivered regardless; that vote is already open to the floor, who vote with their pocket-money.<br /><br />In this way, books that might not have won the popular vote (i.e. big sales) get more of a chance to be discovered, bought, and read. Surely this is the only sensible purpose of a literary prize - otherwise it's just industry back-slapping.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-66455730756215640602014-04-11T08:30:35.820+01:002014-04-11T08:30:35.820+01:00I have been working my way through the long list f...I have been working my way through the long list for the Carnegie. There is one book there which is an absolute delight - and another which is so dark that I could not recommend it to anyone but someone obviously not only thought it was worthy of publication but worthy of listing for a prize.<br />It is all very subjective but I have found that children will appreciate the most unexpected things and give wonderfully honest responses to all manner of writing.catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-91018207846308298142014-04-11T08:27:13.835+01:002014-04-11T08:27:13.835+01:00I'm currently considering these questions as I...I'm currently considering these questions as I'm on a judging panel. So far - having only dented the TBR pile - my criteria has been 'do I immediately want to push copies of this book into the hands of particular children of my acquaintance?'. One stands out at the moment. It's a book with an original concept, entertainingly presented. And crucially, it's for children (not adult readers of children's books). For me, the 'original' element is a difficult one for children to judge, given that they haven't had as much exposure to storytelling. But they are better judges of 'entertaining' than adult judges, I imagine.Elen Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00445201005486291612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-14308366786992442452014-04-11T06:26:16.670+01:002014-04-11T06:26:16.670+01:00Good question - who DOES decide? Here, we have the...Good question - who DOES decide? Here, we have the CBCA Awards, judged by adults, usually adults with some connection with children's books, eg teacher-librarians, children's booksellers, etc. We also have the YABBA Awards in Victoria(other states have their own versions.) Children get to nominate and vote for these. Interestingly, there's often some overlap, with some of te CBCA Shortlist appearing on the YABBA list. Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.com