Jon Blake's Blog - Posts Tagged "wales"
I do not live in England
I've just had to correct a Google Books profile of me which asserted, without apparent evidence, that I live in England. There have also been a few reviews of The Last Free Cat, similarly, that claim my YA novel is set in England. And funny enough, we did a house swap with a US expat in Bavaria last year, and saw on her calendar the word ENGLAND! over the dates she was to be in our house.
All of this perhaps stems from the illusion, particularly common in the USA, that the names "England" and "Britain" are interchangeable. This is not the case. England is one nation in a group of nations which make up the nation of Great Britain, the others being (contentiously) Northern Ireland, (possibly not for much longer) Scotland, and the country in which I live, Wales. Wales has only partial sovereignity through a devolved national assembly; while the Welsh are highly unlikely to vote for total independence, no-one questions the fact that Wales is a bona fide nation, with, besides anything else, its own language, increasingly popular as the medium by which children in Wales are educated.
I am emphatically not a Welsh nationalist. I came to live in South Wales over a quarter century ago largely because of the area's internationalist and socialist traditions, which sadly have withered with the destruction of the coal and steel industries. But I certainly do love living in Cardiff, and am annoyed as anyone when Wales is marginalised or patronised.
The landscape of The Last Free Cat almost entirely derives from Wales. But I rarely use specific places in my stories, which perhaps explains why I am less well known here than literary figures who have sold a lot less books. Then again, I'd never call myself a Welsh writer. Anyone who reads '69ers' will be well aware of my origins. But just to make it doubly clear, I do not live in England now!
All of this perhaps stems from the illusion, particularly common in the USA, that the names "England" and "Britain" are interchangeable. This is not the case. England is one nation in a group of nations which make up the nation of Great Britain, the others being (contentiously) Northern Ireland, (possibly not for much longer) Scotland, and the country in which I live, Wales. Wales has only partial sovereignity through a devolved national assembly; while the Welsh are highly unlikely to vote for total independence, no-one questions the fact that Wales is a bona fide nation, with, besides anything else, its own language, increasingly popular as the medium by which children in Wales are educated.
I am emphatically not a Welsh nationalist. I came to live in South Wales over a quarter century ago largely because of the area's internationalist and socialist traditions, which sadly have withered with the destruction of the coal and steel industries. But I certainly do love living in Cardiff, and am annoyed as anyone when Wales is marginalised or patronised.
The landscape of The Last Free Cat almost entirely derives from Wales. But I rarely use specific places in my stories, which perhaps explains why I am less well known here than literary figures who have sold a lot less books. Then again, I'd never call myself a Welsh writer. Anyone who reads '69ers' will be well aware of my origins. But just to make it doubly clear, I do not live in England now!
The Goodreads Guide to Welsh Children's Authors
Who are the most popular Welsh children's authors worldwide? It was never a question which bothered me in the slightest until a series of literary events in Wales caused me to consider how writers get selected for these: their literary importance? Their pulling power? Or simply who they know?
Wales has its own literary sphere, including a publishing industry vital to the survival of Welsh-language literature, which can mean that writers unknown to the rest of the world may be quite prominent here. So how can we tell who's doing well beyond this one small country?
I decided to research this via the world's largest book-readers' social network, Goodreads. Goodreads now boasts over 30 million viewers a month. 14 million book fans post reviews and book ratings on the site, which is also the largest book app on Facebook. Though still slanted towards the US, it is growing massively in the UK and other countries. It's not a definitive test of an author's popularity, since it a home for book-lovers rather than all those who might read a book; authors who target more reluctant readers may therefore be underrated. However, if we consider the big three Welsh children's writers – Philip Pullman, Jenny Nimmo and Catherine Fisher – their international standing is clearly reflected in the number of ratings they have on the site: Philip Pullman a massive 822,688, Jenny Nimmo 75,227 and Catherine Fisher 42,197.
Organisers of literary events, along with publishers, might well argue that they want writers with current hits, not writers who may have had their best sales twenty years ago. But current hits are reflected quickly on Goodreads. Lucy Christopher is fourth on the ratings list with 15,904 almost entirely because of her recent hit YA novel, Stolen.
Lucy Christopher, incidentally, does not live in Wales. My list includes writers born and raised here besides all those currently resident: you would not have excluded Richard Burton from a list of Welsh actors because he lived in Switzerland. But I have excluded some writers who are on the Literature Wales list because they lived in Wales for a time, or were born but not raised here.
It's a long drop from the top four to the next most popular Welsh-based authors: these are Hay-on-Wye's Jenny Valentine and two Abergavenny writers, US-born Stephanie Burgis and zoologist- author Nicola Davies.
The top twelve are completed by illustrator-author Jackie Morris, performer-author Cat Weatherill, Abertyswyth's Heather Dyer, yours truly and Frances Thomas.
It is hard not to conclude that to be a successful children's author, in Wales as elsewhere, it is no disadvantage to be a woman, to write in the fantasy genre, and to appeal primarily to girls. But once again I have to stress that this Goodreads test is just a guide, not a definitive test. The majority of my own ratings come from a YA novel, widely discussed in the blogosphere, which has sold a fraction of my most popular book, a children's picture book. Books I wrote early in my career, including good sellers, often have no ratings at all.
Then again, the pitiless test of sales figures tells us little of the importance of the books authors are writing. People might well argue, therefore, that the actual ratings, rather than the number of them, are more important (Goodreads members rate books from one to five stars and the site works out an average). Almost without exception, however, the writers on this list score between 3.5 and 4. Books divide opinion, and often the most important and courageous books divide it most deeply. When it comes to assessing the value of books, it is better to read the reviews on Goodreads and make your own judgement on the reviewers' arguments. Or even read them yourself.
What is striking about the Goodreads list is how different it would be from a list of writers getting recognition from the Welsh literary establishment. I have argued that the only children's book award in Wales, the T'ir na nOg, needs to be replaced by a Welsh Children's/YA Book of the Year, and here is why. The T'ir Na nOg, like an offshoot of the Tourist Board, rewards writers for advertising Wales, not for producing the best book of the year for young people. It is part of a comfy relationship between the Welsh government, the Welsh Books Council, and the Welsh publishing industry. Almost invariably the award is won by authors who write for Pont/Gomer or another small Welsh press – yet how many authors who write regularly or exclusively for these publishing houses are in the Goodreads top ten? Not one.
Of course, authors who are of particular interest to Welsh readers should expect to feature in Welsh literary events, and needless to say so should those Welsh-language authors who, unless translated, will never attract a worldwide readership. But some of us are not getting a fair crack of the whip. It is time to ask questions of those paid to distribute large sums of public money to promote literature in Wales. Do you know your stuff about the writers you are supposed to represent? What are your criteria in choosing who to promote? And might a little democracy be introduced into the process?
Wales has its own literary sphere, including a publishing industry vital to the survival of Welsh-language literature, which can mean that writers unknown to the rest of the world may be quite prominent here. So how can we tell who's doing well beyond this one small country?
I decided to research this via the world's largest book-readers' social network, Goodreads. Goodreads now boasts over 30 million viewers a month. 14 million book fans post reviews and book ratings on the site, which is also the largest book app on Facebook. Though still slanted towards the US, it is growing massively in the UK and other countries. It's not a definitive test of an author's popularity, since it a home for book-lovers rather than all those who might read a book; authors who target more reluctant readers may therefore be underrated. However, if we consider the big three Welsh children's writers – Philip Pullman, Jenny Nimmo and Catherine Fisher – their international standing is clearly reflected in the number of ratings they have on the site: Philip Pullman a massive 822,688, Jenny Nimmo 75,227 and Catherine Fisher 42,197.
Organisers of literary events, along with publishers, might well argue that they want writers with current hits, not writers who may have had their best sales twenty years ago. But current hits are reflected quickly on Goodreads. Lucy Christopher is fourth on the ratings list with 15,904 almost entirely because of her recent hit YA novel, Stolen.
Lucy Christopher, incidentally, does not live in Wales. My list includes writers born and raised here besides all those currently resident: you would not have excluded Richard Burton from a list of Welsh actors because he lived in Switzerland. But I have excluded some writers who are on the Literature Wales list because they lived in Wales for a time, or were born but not raised here.
It's a long drop from the top four to the next most popular Welsh-based authors: these are Hay-on-Wye's Jenny Valentine and two Abergavenny writers, US-born Stephanie Burgis and zoologist- author Nicola Davies.
The top twelve are completed by illustrator-author Jackie Morris, performer-author Cat Weatherill, Abertyswyth's Heather Dyer, yours truly and Frances Thomas.
It is hard not to conclude that to be a successful children's author, in Wales as elsewhere, it is no disadvantage to be a woman, to write in the fantasy genre, and to appeal primarily to girls. But once again I have to stress that this Goodreads test is just a guide, not a definitive test. The majority of my own ratings come from a YA novel, widely discussed in the blogosphere, which has sold a fraction of my most popular book, a children's picture book. Books I wrote early in my career, including good sellers, often have no ratings at all.
Then again, the pitiless test of sales figures tells us little of the importance of the books authors are writing. People might well argue, therefore, that the actual ratings, rather than the number of them, are more important (Goodreads members rate books from one to five stars and the site works out an average). Almost without exception, however, the writers on this list score between 3.5 and 4. Books divide opinion, and often the most important and courageous books divide it most deeply. When it comes to assessing the value of books, it is better to read the reviews on Goodreads and make your own judgement on the reviewers' arguments. Or even read them yourself.
What is striking about the Goodreads list is how different it would be from a list of writers getting recognition from the Welsh literary establishment. I have argued that the only children's book award in Wales, the T'ir na nOg, needs to be replaced by a Welsh Children's/YA Book of the Year, and here is why. The T'ir Na nOg, like an offshoot of the Tourist Board, rewards writers for advertising Wales, not for producing the best book of the year for young people. It is part of a comfy relationship between the Welsh government, the Welsh Books Council, and the Welsh publishing industry. Almost invariably the award is won by authors who write for Pont/Gomer or another small Welsh press – yet how many authors who write regularly or exclusively for these publishing houses are in the Goodreads top ten? Not one.
Of course, authors who are of particular interest to Welsh readers should expect to feature in Welsh literary events, and needless to say so should those Welsh-language authors who, unless translated, will never attract a worldwide readership. But some of us are not getting a fair crack of the whip. It is time to ask questions of those paid to distribute large sums of public money to promote literature in Wales. Do you know your stuff about the writers you are supposed to represent? What are your criteria in choosing who to promote? And might a little democracy be introduced into the process?
