Is an X Factor for novelists a good idea?

A literary talent show is about to be aired in Italy, but is television the right place to nurture literary talent?Jonny Geller, agent and joint CEO, Curtis BrownAn X Factor for books is about to launch on Italian TV – it had to be Italian, didn't it? – and you can imagine the literati running for cover in horror. It's "reducing the craft to a reality freak show", "further degradation of the cultural value of the word" etc. And yes, the programme [Masterpiece, which broadcasts on Italian channel Rai 3 today, billed as "the first talent show for aspiring writers, competing to... publish their novel with Simon & Schuster"] will probably be vulgar, ill-conceived and wrong-footed. But we need it. We need to allow young people into the secret we have held too closely to our hearts for too long – that books can change your life, that what makes us human is books, that reading is not just for nerds. The National Literacy Trust recently surveyed 35,000 children from 188 schools and one in five is embarrassed to be caught with a book in their hands.On British TV at the moment, there is not one single programme about books or for book lovers. We in publishing bemoan how few people buy books and yet we do nothing to make them feel relevant. In a changing publishing scene where most purchases are made online, where independent bookshops are closing every week and where the chains all feature the same books, we desperately need an entertaining format to ignite the imaginations of... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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