More Controversy About Literary Awards

I posted previously about the controversy surrounding the Campbell award (now Astounding award) for best new SF writer. That's not the only literary award recently to be the source of some controversy.

This article from File 770 reports on the controversy surrounding the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master award, the James Tiptree award, and the Hugo awards. All of these have had their own little squabbles recently. I hadn't heard about Linda Fairstein and the Mystery Writers of America. It does raise some questions about the separation between art and the artist, even more so perhaps than the Campbell award controversy.

When I heard about Linda Fairstein’s problems with the Mystery Writers of America, I got into an semi-argument with a bookselling friend about what should happen to her. He stated, unequivocally, that her actions in her life should have nothing to do with her work as a writer. 

And, In a fair and a just world, that would happen. But, as we have seen repeatedly over the advent of the internet and social media outlets, there are people out there who would vehemently oppose the most harmless and innocuous you could come up with, including kittens. knitting and lawn bowling. 

I told my friend back then that while it was more than likely that Linda Fairstein probably did deserve the MWA honor, people, her peers, critics, and the public at large and the tidal forces of social interaction she helped foment were going to deny her because of her past actions and her adamant defense of them. 

And then there's what happened with the Nobel award for literature last year,  which will no doubt be in the news again in a few weeks when this year's award is scheduled to be announced.