An all-male shortlist for YA fiction has left the Locus awards mired in controversy – but prejudice is an unavoidable part of any literary prize
Literature has always been a tribal world, and the internet has only made that worse. The romance readers on one forum, the crime buffs on another. The LitFicers trade snark in their favourite webzines, while the MFA grads are so hipster they communicate exclusively via Ello. It’s all reinforced by the feudal architecture of social media, where the good graces and retweets of your genre’s overlords can make or break. When two great literary tribes go to war, the screams of reputations dying can be heard from Facebook to Instagram, and nothing sparks conflict between writers like book awards.
The tribes of sci-fi, constituted from the related clans of SF, fantasy and horror, have one of the most extensive and complex awards seasons of all genres. The Locus awards for science fiction shorlists this year provided the rare sight of an all-male YA fiction shortlist this week. The Republic of Young Adult Authors was not amused and fired off a warning volley of outraged tweets in protest. YA is a genre with a great strength in women writers and a massive readership among young women. Did this all-male shortlist indicate, as claimed by YA author Gwen Katz, a “myopic sexism” from Locus award voters?
I’m pleased people voted for me, but I don’t think it’s ever a good thing when someone’s on the same shortlist twice.
Continue reading...via Science fiction | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1rwSH4G
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