Pick up any lifestyle magazine and odds are you’ll come across one of the ubiquitous “who’s hot” lists.
From movies to fashion, and music to the world of the arts, these impressive tomes proclaim the various merits of the “newest shining lights”.
And the purpose of these lists? Perhaps it lies in some social need to create an unofficial club and demonstrate how well a lucky few have managed to innovatively tap into the cultural zeitgeist of the times.
But this trend of highlighting the hottest and the brightest emerging artists of any given time is by no means new. We have enjoyed collating lists of go-getters for a while now – particularly in the arts.
As far back as the early 1900s, groups of artists were admired for being at the frontline of the cultural and artistic movements of the time, and no more so than in the literary world.
Think the ‘Bloomsbury Set’ with such high profile members as Virginia Woolf or E. M. Forster and Lytton Strachey. Or the Beat Generation’s Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg or Timothy Leary of ‘tune in, turn on and drop out’ infamy.
And the American literary scene was just booming in the 1990s with the provocatively named literary brat pack, which comprised Brett Easton Ellis, Jay McInerney and Tama Janowitz. Authors whose ascension to the status of literary wunderkinds was as spectacular as their subsequent fall from grace.
So how has the global literary scene in the new millennium changed? Are authors obsessed with image more than content? Are publishing houses ruled more by the marketing department than the editorial? And is any of this new?
First up (and this probably isn’t new) – being a talented writer is perhaps only one of the elements required for success and longevity in the current literary scene. A scene where a hook that differentiates a writer from their literary peers is considered everything.
American writer JT Leroy is a great example of the new wave of young writers making their mark for more than their literary output. Leroy is a fixture on the New York arts and social scenes. This one time drug addict and child prostitute, known for his bizarre appearance and coterie of celebrity friends, forever changed America’s literary landscape with the 2000 publishing of Sarah, a harrowing autobiographical novel charting his brutal upbringing at the hand of his junkie prostitute mother.
And with the release of the cinematic version of his second novel The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, and his enduring popularity with some of the world’s most famous celebrities (who happily sing his praises), his literary stock has become even hotter.
London born Zadie Smith, with her inter-racial heritage of English father and Jamaican mother, caused a flurry of excitement in literary circles when her first novel White Teeth, (a work described as a “vibrant portrait of contemporary multicultural London”) dazzled audiences when it was published in 2000. Going on to win numerous awards for both this and her next work of fiction The Autograph Man, her status as one of Britain’s most current and innovative writers has only been solidified with her recent nomination in the prestigious 2005 Booker long list literary awards.
With the publishing of his first novel A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius – a semi-autobiographical novel dealing with the sudden death of his parents within a month of each other and his subsequent trials as guardian to his then 13 year-old brother – writer Dave Eggers broke new literary ground. The book, a huge financial and critical success, reached the coveted number one position on the New York Times best seller list and was nominated a finalist for the Pulitzer prize in the non fiction category. Eggers has gone on to capitalize on this initial success with further novels, a critically lauded literary journal and publishing house, along with philanthropic efforts aimed at supporting emerging young writers.
The ‘hottest’ trend of late would undoubtedly have to be the emergence of literary power couples. Writers whose individual acclaim, while considerable, has been immeasurably bolstered in both the public’s eyes as well as publishing marketing gurus, by direct association with their literary spouses.
The reigning king and queen of this super-couple elite at present are Nicole Krauss and Jonathan Safran Foer. Krauss’ most recent novel, The History Of Love is already a favorite with critics and book buying readers. Becoming so through word of mouth and selected public readings by the author. Meanwhile her husband’s first novel Everything Is Illuminated has recently made the transition to the silver screen in a film starring Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood.
Other power couples in this emerging literary symbiosis include Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt as well as William Sutcliffe and Maggie O’Farrell.
Prolifically talented writers no doubt, who have seen their literary currency rise exponentially through the media’s current fixation on their romantic couplings.
But is this trend new? Have we forgotten Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes? No – we are still talking about them today. Or T.S. Eliot, who married British writer Vivienne Haigh-Wood. Another tortuous relationship that was turned into a film. A film, which again has cemented their story in our literary history.
Perhaps publishing marketeers searching for hooks and ‘sexed-up’ angles on how to sell a story, an author or an intriguing union of authors, are well aware of the fact that, (as US author and satirist Ambrose Bierce once said): ‘There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don’t know.’ Perhaps they are even banking on it.
