This post comes from the quaint town of Warkworth, where I’m recovering after attending the Matakana Farmer’s Market: a clinical, almost bourgeois display of all things organic. It so resembled a TV set that I half-expected to see Trinny and Susannah from What Not To Wear sashaying around. Fortunately, the experience was enlivened by excellent coffee and rollicking tunes supplied by the live blues trio Elephant Gerald. (Respect to Jim Gladwin on tea-chest base, Tim Oldham on washboard and Brendan Wright on guitar and blues harp. Boys, you rock.)
Anyway, we’re drifting off-brief. The most pressing news of the moment is that the power of ‘litblogs’, such as the one you’re reading right now, is starting to get noticed in the traditional press. An article in the Village Voice is being widely quoted, revealing that ‘literary conversation is erupting all over the Internet in the form of litblogs’. Furthermore, journalist Joy Press claims that ‘publishers have noticed the power of these informal networks to generate word-of-mouth buzz - the holy grail of marketing - and are looking for ways to harness it.’
Many other articles are carrying on in the same vein, so why the sudden fuss? Well, it’s largely been triggered by the launch of the ‘Litblog Co-op’. This online collective of literary blogs has a clear purpose:
Uniting the leading literary weblogs for the purpose of drawing attention to the best of contemporary fiction, authors and presses that are struggling to be noticed in a flooded marketplace.
The site offers readers the chance to ‘suggest a title’ that they feel has been neglected in the publicity stakes. One book that gets a mention is Marilynne Robinson’s novel Gilead, which has just won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. (We haven’t read it yet, but we’ve heard that it’s good.)
That's all for now - must dash. Internet cafés are not the most relaxing of places to write (and that's also why there's no pic with this piece). Plus, there’s shopping for the BBQ to be done. As they probably say at the market, Ciao!
23 Apr 05 | Filed by Chris | Add your comment (4 so far)
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Comment by kelly ana morey ~ April 25, 2005 9:40 AM
How exciting that Marilynne Robinson’s second novel has found acclaim so quickly after its publication. I read her first novel (published 1980) Housekeeping a few months ago and thought it was probably the saddest book I’d ever read. Of course I immediately googled the woman and was shattered to discover that Housekeeping was it in terms of her back catalogue, except for a familiar sounding non-fiction title Mother Country. Fortunately only days later the books section of my Vanity Fair contained the heartening news that, after a twenty-five years wait, Robinson had finally finished her difficult second novel.
Comment by Mary McCallum ~ April 25, 2005 4:15 PM
Like you, Kelly, I have only just read Housekeeping, and I was enchanted by the luminous, intelligent writing. I was looking forward to Gilead (and thrilled to hear it got the Pulitzer) but haven't seen much evidence of it in the shops here. My friend Stef put me onto fishpond.co.nz where it's for sale at $40. Love to know what you think of it.
Comment by PJKM ~ April 25, 2005 4:28 PM
"Gilead" is scheduled for a June release in New Zealand. Marilynne's written two other books since the fabulous "Housekeeping" (also nominated for the Pulitzer) - both non-fiction. The most recent is "The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought."
Comment by Mary McCallum ~ May 14, 2005 7:45 PM
Gilead is in the shops now for $45 - I've bought it and started it but am finding it's one of those books where you have to slow down completely before picking it up. The pace (so far) is measured and meditative. Maybe I've been rushing around too much lately, but I've put it aside again to finish off something of a speedier nature. ~Mary
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