What's a Common Reader -- and what is Uncommon Reading?

Virginia Woolf defined a common reader as someone who is not a scholar; not a critic. A common reader "reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge or correct the opinions of others. Above all, he is guided by an instinct to create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some kind of whole." By that definition, I'm definitely a common reader -- reading an uncommonly large and diverse collection of books.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Award Watch: The Richest Literary Prize in the US to Debut in 2012/13



About a million dollars in prizes to be awarded annually -- about the same per prize as the Dublin Impac Award, and more than ten times what the Pulitzer and National Book Awards yield, and double what the lucky winner of the Man Booker can expect to pocket. It will be interesting to see what the criteria are, and what kind of works get recognized as a result!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/books/yale-announcing-150000-literary-prizes.html?smid=tw-nytimesbooks&seid=auto

1 comment:

  1. Oy, maybe I should start writing again...NOT!

    Just stopped by to see what titles i could add to the TOTTERING LIST....I'm glad you added your picture...it's a good one.

    Jude

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