Literary prizes, Twit Lit and the iPod

Literary prize judges

First there was singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega on the judges panel for the Orange Prize. After that was model Sophie Dahl. Then in 1999 the choice of Jerry Hall on the panel for the Whitbread Book of the Year created a bit of an uproar when she backed Harry Potter for the prize. (Seamus Heaney's version of Beowulf eventually won the prize.) This year singer-songwriter Lily Allen is an Orange Prize judge.

The Royal Society of Literature's chair, Maggie Gee, has questioned the "shortage of serious writers" on a panel. Authors Philippa Gregory and Bel Mooney, journalists Kirsty Lang and Guardian Review editor Lisa Allardice are the other judges.

The honorary director, Kate Mosse, points out that "everybody is a reader; though some are writers, others are not."

True. Just as in football. England has 50 million football fans who think they know more about football then the managers. Should we have player selection by SMS's then?

The Guardian


Twit Lit?

I haven’t stopped being appalled at the term 'chick lit' and now comes along another one 'twit lit'. This report in the Guardian suggest that '(this) season's bestsellers reveal the British male is undergoing a surreally extended midlife crisis'.

The top seller is Jeremy Clarkson's car-journalism anthology Don't Stop Me Now, a hardback, featuring 61 Sunday Times pieces about the Ford Sportka, Audi S4 Cabriolet and Caterham Seven Roadsport SV. Next is On The Edge, about a 'near-obsessive attraction to speed and the smell of petrol'.

So, that is 'twit lit'.

And for the more intellectual there is this number one on the Amazon list: Do Ants Have Arseholes?

The Guardian


Reading books on the iPod

Reports say that Apple is developing a new-generation iPod MP3 player with a book reading mode. The new-generation of iPods will allow people to download and read books and view blockbuster movies. Apple is working on a widescreen version of the new video iPod to ease reading of print material.

Apple has reportedly asked a number of the world's major publishing houses to commit their full libraries of books to their electronic archives from which customers will be able to download text versions of bestsellers into their video iPods.

Current list of books available runs to more than 400 titles, including classics such as Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby and Jane Eyre. Prices range from as little as 50pence (RM3.50) up to GBP4.50

The Hindustan Times