Not Just Another Awards Season

It’s award season and people are talking – not just those who work in the publishing industry but readers of all kinds. But make no mistake: book prizes offer more than just swanky ceremonies and cash prizes for a handful of winners; in my opinion, the biggest benefit is how competitions create conversation. No matter which titles are selected by juries, many readers weigh in on blogs, at dinner parties, in their offices – Which books should win?, Which books are being overlooked?, What’s the fuss about that author anyway? – and those are valuable questions, valuable discussions.

This fall the UK’s Guardian hosted a book award with a twist – a completely different process but the same criteria: the Not the Booker prize. There was no jury: readers were invited to make the nominations themselves, by piping up online about their favourite books of the year. Guardian blogger Sam Jordison said that one of the by-products of the Not the Booker award was a “worthwhile debate about the nature of democracy and the best way of judging literary achievement.” Whether it’s the masses or an elite jury, they’re asking the same valuable questions.

And how did that “jury” of the masses do? Well, I think quite well. The most votes went to Matthew Hooton for his debut novel Deloume Road (which tied with UK author Lee Rourke’s The Canal.) I am not personally a fan of TV pageantry like So You Think You Can Dance, but I will readily admit that these kinds of television programs have conditioned TV audiences to participate in the contests in a new way, activating their taste and discrimination and motivating them to respond, which seems, to me, like a very good thing. I think reading audiences even more so than television audiences have always been more responsive and discriminating because reading is a more active entertainment experience than plunking oneself down on the couch in front of the box. And award season invites audience participation. There is incentive for readers to talk – debate, weigh, endorse, criticize – because there is something at stake. In the case of the Not the Booker prize there was no cash prize for the winner. What was at stake was but more importantly: your attention.

Even after turning the final page, sometimes it can feel like you haven’t really read a book until you’ve discussed it aloud with others. Obviously, readers of Deloume Road know what they’ve read: a stellar novel by a new Canadian writer. And obviously Hooton fans were motivated enough to write in to the Guardian to nominate it for the Not the Booker prize, speaking up for how worthy it is of your attention. As one among many of Deloume Road’s admiring, chatty readers, I can say people are talking about it for a reason. It’s an engrossing story populated by unforgettable characters and it deserves your attention. And you don’t necessarily need to leave the couch to read it!