Literacy news
Booker Judge expresses concern for young readers in age of information
27 Jul 2011
Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5 and Booker Prize Judge, said she was concerned that school pupils were missing out on the pleasure of reading books as technology increasingly dominates their lives.
Her comments came as the judges announced this year’s longlist of 13 novels, including one of the shortest books ever to be selected for the 42 year-old award, four first-time novelists, and one previous winner
Dame Stella explained that while she was confident that a market for fiction would still exist in 100 years’ time, she feared that many children were not growing into book lovers.
“I think much of the Twittering and emailing and texting and all that sort of stuff that children go in for now may be taking their eyes off reading fiction,” she said.
“When I was young we read more than the average child reads now, which is a great pity.”
Teachers need to find ways to instill a love of fiction in children, she said, although electronic “reader” devices that can store hundreds of books and newspapers, such as the Amazon Kindle, “could help turn the tide”.
The panel of five judges, who have read 138 novels since Christmas, were locked in the selection meeting for two hours before finalising the 13 titles.
The shortlist of six novels will be announced in September with the winner, who receives a £50,000 prize, decided in October.
Read more at the Daily Telegraph.
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