Prize Fiction

Literary prizes shape the market of literature. They help writers to boost their sales, to earn their income, to be accepted and respected – and to keep writing. With their appraisal of certain books, prizes also guide readers to the ‘must’ reads of the year. Our perception of contemporary literature, hot from the press, is therefore very much dependent on the publicity given to the winners of literary prizes, or to those books that have been shortlisted. In our course, we will get our own glimpse into the workings of the contemporary literary market by trying to trace the workings of the literary prize system ourselves. The material we are going to work with will consist of the recent shortlisted and winning titles of some of the most important literary prizes on the Anglophone market: The Man Booker Prize, The Orange Prize and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, and four of the sundry categories of the Costa Book Awards (formerly Whitbread Award): First Novel, Novel, Poetry and Children’s. The course is going to begin with a survey of the British prize market and the goals pursued by the prizes mentioned above. We will also discuss criteria of literary criticism when it comes to reviewing a novel or a poem. The major part of the course will, however, consist in our practical work with shortlisted texts. This will include role-plays of authors’ readings and interviews as well as prize committee work, which includes reviewing books. Last but not least, we shall find out who will come out Top of the Pops from OUR shortlist. The approach to literature that is taken in this class will be more on the practical and less on the academic side. However, students who wish to take part in this course MUST be fond of reading and working with fiction and/or poetry, as you will have to be willing to read at least three to four novels (one for your review, and two to three more to be able to participate in the rest of the coursework). Students interested in taking the course are therefore advised to contact me at am.studi-si@muelleranja.eu (subject: prize fiction) for a list of the titles from which you can select those that you wish to work with in more detail. (Of course, students who show such a decided interest in the seminar and even begin preparing will also be given priority when it comes to assign a place in the course.) A list of titles to be discussed in the course can be obtained by request at am.studi-si(AT)muelleranja.eu (subject: prize fiction). You can also browse the websites of the awards mentioned in the course description: We will look at the titles on the most recent shortlists (2010 and 2009). Anglistik - Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft Abschluss der Module 1-3 2 ECTS: active regular participation; oral presentation (author role play or book presentation) 5 ECTS: active regular participation; oral presentation (author role play, book presentation, or interview) plus written elaboraton (1500-2000 words); OR (depending on number of participants) two book reviews (1500-2000 words each) 7 ECTS: oral presentation (author role play, book presentation, or interview) plus comparative review of the shortlist of one literary prize (3500-4500 words) Universität Siegen SoSe 2011 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Müller Anja