Common People: Breaking the Class Ceiling in UK Publishing

From authors to agents, publishers to booksellers and critics to book clubs, the digital age has turned everyone into a critic of contemporary writings. Within this dynamic environment, literary prizes, awards and lists fuse the shared interests of the cultural and the economic in their influencing role over the ways in which new fictions are produced, distributed and read. This chapter examines the rise of literary prize culture in the new millennium, its function, potential limitations, and the role of literary prizes, awards and lists in the formation of a canon of contemporary fiction. Through a case study approach to the Granta ‘Best of Young British Novelists’ (BOYBN) list of 2013, the chapter offers a series of reflections on how and why literary prize culture has a significant role in defining ‘popular fiction’ and shaping which fictions become popular in our twenty-first century world. Critically exploring the significant extension of the scale and impact of literary prize culture on the field of contemporary fiction in the twenty-first century, the chapter considers the role of literary prize culture in both commodifying and canonizing contemporary fiction today.