Literature has often been perceived as the poor relation of the arts family. Gary McKeone sings the praises of good writing and explains what public funding bodies are doing to promote good literature.
Later this year, Seven Stories, the centre for children?s books, will open its doors to the public in Newcastle. The converted mill overlooking the Ousebourn Valley will be a national and international resource ? one that invites children and adults alike to explore, re-search and enjoy the world of children?s literature: the written word, the visual image, the whole magical atmosphere of making stories. The pleasure principle is important. It is a guiding instinct behind funding for literature in the public sector. Reading, the activity that completes the creative circle begun by the writer, can make our lives more rounded, more stimulating, more fulfilled. It can take us beyond the quotidian and closer to a sense of what it means to be alive, to be part of civilisation. It can also be enormously enjoyable. That is why Arts Council England (ACE) seeks to support writing and reading, writers and readers. Literature may not in the end provide definitive answers but it can illuminate the perennial questions in imaginative, challenging and enjoyable ways.
The writer
Crucial, of course, to all of this is the writer. The poet Patrick Kavanagh wrote towards the end of his life, ?Looking back I see that the big tragedy for the poet is poverty. I had no money and no profession? and I had the misfortune to live the worst years of my life through a period when there were no Arts Councils, Foundations, Fellowships for the benefit of young poets. On many occasions I literally starved in Dublin.? It is no longer like that. Our Grants for the Arts programme enables writers, amongst other things, to ?buy time?, that most precious and elusive of commodities.
Beyond the individual writer, literature in the public sector is a landscape dotted with organisations and initiatives dedicated to making literature activity as widely available as possible. The range of settings is eclectic: from families to schools, from the health sector to libraries, from prisons to clubs and pubs, not to mention on the Web and in bookshops, on the underground and in other public spaces. It is a portable and adaptable artform but one that is faced with significant challenges in the coming years.
Walk in to any high street bookshop now and you are immediately faced with ?three for two? displays, book of the month promotions and a range of point-of-sale material aimed at separating us from our cash. You will search, almost always in vain, for books from the subsidised independent presses. The discounts demanded by the chains, not to mention the cost to the publisher for the privilege of partaking of in-store promotions make it almost impossible for the smaller presses to get a foothold. The challenge for these publishers is to find other routes to readers and to make themselves fit for the 21st century. We cannot give up on the high street but we must look beyond it if the independent presses are to survive.
The reader
One possible outlet is the public library network. There is an old story, probably apocryphal, that someone browsing in the Philosophy section of a public library came across the book ?Val Doonican ? My Philosophy?. Those days are gone. Thanks to organisations like the Reading Agency, Opening the Book and Book Communications, public librarians have become increasingly knowledgeable about and adept at promoting the pleasures of reading widely to people of all ages and backgrounds. Under the banner of initiatives like Branching Out and Their Reading Futures, bespoke training packages and projects are transforming the role of the librarian from one of perceived passivity to one of active encouragement. Tuning into prize shortlists, books in the media, National Poetry Day and Black History Month, for example, they actively promote a diverse range of literature rather than depend on library users fending for themselves.
The longer-term strategic aim of all this work is to make librarians confident in selecting and recommending books, imaginative in their presentation of these books, creative in programming events and ambitious to make libraries nerve centres of literature activity ? a tall order in these times of reduced opening hours and falling book budgets, but one that we must rise to if the value of the library network is to be sustained. I?m convinced, too, that independent presses could benefit hugely from a vibrant, literature-focused, properly resourced library sector.
It is an unfortunate truism of the publishing world that of the one hundred thousand plus books published annually, only three percent are works in translation, a shameful indictment of our inward-looking culture. We are, of course, rightly proud of our native literature, writing that has travelled and transformed the reading world, but it seems self-evident in the current global climate that we need to look beyond the English language and acknowledge a world elsewhere: we need to be evermore alert to other cultures. We need to tune our antennae to the signals from other nations. In short, we need to understand difference. Good literature can underpin this process. This is why ACE supports organisations like the British Centre for Literary Translation and the Poetry Translation Centre, as well as providing project funding for specific works in translation. We are committed also to the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize as a means not just of rewarding authors and translators, but of shining a very public spotlight on this crucial area.
Impact
Literature may not necessarily change the world we inhabit, although we must always believe in its potential to transform. However, it is surely the case that good writing and attentive reading, not least of work in translation, can help make our world a better-informed, more compassionate place. An introduction to the pleasure of books cannot be started too young, which is why children?s literature is a priority for us. Look at the wonderful Bookstart programme run by Book Trust, heralded by the Chancellor in the Budget before last as, ?an investment not just in every child but an investment in the future of our country?. Book-start provides free books universally for every child at nine months, eighteen months and then at age two. What better way to develop the readers, and indeed writers, of the future? Bookstart stimulates interest in books and reading in a family context, with all the wider social implications and benefits that this entails. As much about parents as about children, it is an inspired and inspiring project and one that will travel the world.
I want to finish by stressing the importance of partnerships. The list of partners engaging in promoting literature is growing: from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to the Society of Chief Librarians; from the BBC to the commercial publishing world; from teacher training agencies to a spread of government departments, literature in the funded sector is increasingly regarded as an artform capable of meeting a range of agendas pertinent right across society.
Gary McKeone is Director of Literature at Arts Council England.
e: gary.mckeone@artscouncil.org.uk