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Last updated on March 6th, 2018 at 12:29 am
It’s meant to be the season of goodwill, yet Australia’s literary elite is throwing a hand-flapping hissy fit of Normandy proportions:
Three of the five judges of the $42,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, including writer and journalist David Marr, resigned late last week amid a flurry of claims and counter-claims. Marr, along with fellow resigning judge Melbourne bookshop director Mark Rubbo, said in a statement yesterday that the company responsible for administering the prize had cut the judges’ terms in half, introduced the right “to dismiss any judge at any time without explanation” and stripped the panel of “nearly all decision-making, including election of the chair”.
The third judge to resign, writer Kerryn Goldsworthy, said yesterday his decision to go was “the result of an accumulation of issues and unfortunate events”.
Troublemaker Marr is at the centre of the feud:
The catalyst is believed to have been the decision not to invite Marr to take up the traditional second three-year term of judging. This news is said to have been delivered in a less-than-tactful way …
Hmmm. Dave is often less than tactful himself.
- Oh, just give the damn thing to Jackie Collins…Posted by richard mcenroe on 12/22 at 05:45 PM • permalink
- Mark Rubbo owns Readings bookshop in Carlton (Vic), and he’s been pissing and moaning for ever about how Borders opened up across the road from him.
He’s obviously got a problem with bookshops which stock a wider range of books and more competitive prices.
What we therefore need are fewer, and more expensive books.
- Steve68 � Don’t laugh. A senior officer at IIRC Simon & Schuster actually told Publishers Weekly that too many books were being published and publishers should actually reduce their list to increase demand…Posted by richard mcenroe on 12/22 at 06:18 PM • permalink
- Hmm, I’d forgotten about that Cuckoo, you are right. But, Borders sells, ughh, ‘mass market’ books and ‘airport novels’ or is this really what Mr. Rubbo (is he a super hero or something?) worried about? Not to worry, plenty of books on fung shui and its influence on early aboriginal cave art at Mr. Rubbo’s establishment.
- is david the only one to marr the human race?Posted by Deo Vindice on 12/22 at 08:03 PM • permalink
- oops. please ignore my previous post. i’m pissed as a NIT. chrissie cheer and all that…Posted by Deo Vindice on 12/22 at 08:05 PM • permalink
- Actually there are too many books being published, have a look at the stacks of trendoid post modern, radical feminist, queer theory, late-Marxist , post colonial, anti economic rationalist, anti US offerings in progressive bookshops. Not to mention the boring PHD theses turned into books and the academic remainders that turn up at Cloustons
- I love that Borders – I shop there all the time. NB – their history section is a LOT more balanced than Readings could ever manage (latest purchase: ‘To Hell and Back, the Audie Murphy Story’ – I wish more book shops stocked books about war heroes).
I used to shop regularly at that Readings, but I couldn’t wait to take my custom somewhere else, seeing as they always have that highly offensive leftist sh#t in their window.
- I read the story and had a giggle – the arts luvvies stabbing themselves in the back and falling about fainting. And all because of ‘intereference’ from – gasp – commercial concerns. Let’s have more of it.
Re Borders – the books are OK, if expensive. The music is, however, pathetic. Try finding recent Hyperion and Chandos releases – not a hope. It all the same of re-issued 1960-1980 tat. Readings (pronounced Reddings) is better in music, although not by much.
Posted by walterplinge on 12/22 at 10:34 PM • permalink
