WHY SO FEW MEN TAKE UP THE PEN

With publishing now such a female-dominated industry, it’s no surprise that there are so few men writing fiction, says Paul Burke

I’VE JUST FINISHED A VERY UNUSUAL BOOK: Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan. Its themes, characters and the author’s style of writing are all exceptionally good but that’s not why this book is unusual. It’s more because it’s a new and critically acclaimed work of literary fiction written by a man. If you’ve seen the inside of any bookshop in the last few years, you’ll know how rare this has become. The vast majority of new fiction and its most praised and promoted authors are female. And yet the principal reason for this is seldom discussed. So let’s discuss it, shall we? Let’s bring the elephant into the room. The publishing industry is suffering from a damaging gender imbalance. According to a recent UK publishers’ survey, 83 per cent of marketing, 92…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2024

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