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Clare Alexander

Clare Alexander is a literary agent with Aitken Alexander Associates, and president of the Association of Authors’ Agents. She was formerly a publisher at Viking and Macmillan.

Olympic hurdles

10.01.08

Bad news travels far. As I write this, I am by the ocean in South America, but word reaches me that the British Council is threatening to close its literature department, that the Arts Council is cutting its funding to several small publishers, and that it was a bad Christmas on the high street. It doesn’t sound like a very encouraging start to the New Year.

Despite having the most book-friendly Prime Minister in decades, it seems that the needs of literature are to be starved, presumably in the interests of sport. This is short-termism of the worst kind. We should be doing the opposite: planning a celebration of our rich literary culture to take place alongside the London 2012 Olympics. And we need to be sure that public funding continues to be available for writers, for independent publishers and for readers.

This is especially true for libraries. They may need to act as social hubs, as we are frequently told as an excuse for cost-cutting, but libraries must not cease to offer books as their central purpose. The growth of reading groups demonstrates how books can bring people together, giving a lie to the idea that the presence of books in libraries might mitigate against any other purpose.

Here in Uruguay, a little holiday village swells to contain about 2,000 inhabitants at this peak period. They can choose between three well-stocked little book stores, each with a range of current bestsellers and an impressive choice of classics. I have not seen a single celebrity book, and the misery memoir is an unknown genre. Among the

Spanish-language titles are to be found translations of Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, David Lodge, Sarah Dunant and Tracy Chevalier. Despite our respective size, there are as many British writers as Americans who are enjoyed here, at the other end of the world.

The local custom on New Year’s Eve is to write on a piece of paper the thing you most want to leave behind in the year that is ending, and to burn it at midnight. It feels more optimistic than making resolutions that rarely last through January.

So here is what I would like to leave back in 2007: all those endless disputes about an imagined future, digital or otherwise. Instead, I hope that our industry, our institutions and our government learn to value the existing talent, energy and diversity of the British publishing scene.

Let’s not pave paradise to put up a sports stadium.
 

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By Ben Johncock

I couldn't agree with you more, Clare. The government is obsessed by sport because of the money it brings in. I wonder how many people in this country are genuinely interested in the Olympics? We are led to believe that it’s every man, woman and child. I suspect the truth might be quite different: The Olympics is a tournament of who can jump higher than who. Does anyone really care about that in 2008? The world has moved on! Significantly! It wouldn’t be so bad if vital funds weren’t being sucked out of all other areas of our culture to help cope with this playground contest. As an unpublished author, there’s precious little available to help me work less day job and devote more time to Arthur, my eponymous hero, who feels neglected on a daily basis. And he’s got more than enough problems of his own to cope with. GB has a chance to make a real difference here: Let’s hope he does.

10 Jan 08 11:45

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By Sheila O'Reilly

Some facts may well be useful here: Arts Council income was £475m in 2002/3 rising to £620m in 2005/6, this has dropped slightly in 2006/7 to £600m and will rise again as the Arts Council has been given a "larger then expected increase in the latest Public Spending Review". The issue appears to be how the Arts Council has changed its policy in allocating their funding. They have adopted the policy to fund "fewer organisations and fund them better". For example none of the flagship companies in London had a cut, in fact many organisations throughout England will receive sizeable increases. As Ms (Joanna) Lumley says "if regional theatres are going wrong, let's make them right. Don't shut them down". Funding an organization for years, and in the case of Derulus for 25 years, could lead to a dependency. There is nothing elitist about excellence. Artistic quality inspires people from every class and there is nothing wrong in giving monies to organisations that are performing well. There is an argument to disband the Arts Council and take the funding decisions directly into Government, I guess this would enrage another section of the arts world and in particular the 90% of organisations who have had no change to their Arts Council funding.

12 Jan 08 07:40

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