Michael, they’ve certainly done that. I generally agree with what you say about awards, but I don’t think it does any harm now and then to open up a discussion about their validity and/or their decisions, especially when they seem so unfathomable. I do fear though rather than McNish trying to take on board some of the criticism, the publicity that this article has gained her, will just further enhance her career. I little like a pop star.
Cheers,
Tristan
Sent from my iPhone
> On 25 Jan 2018, at 11:15, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi Tristan, I guess I'm pretty indifferent on the topic of awards. The governing bodies of these things can award who they like for all I care. I can't take them seriously as acts of literary criticism. Tthe motivations behind individual awards often have less to do with the recipient than with preserving and cultivating the award's own reputation for relevance, contemporaneity, capacity to surprise, etc, as well as courting controversy in the interests of generating debate (but not out of genuine desire to open up debate, just to increase the award's own media profile). The game is to get us, the members of the public, arguing about whether the current recipient "deserved" the award or not. Why indulge them, why play that media game?
|