Do first-time writers have a sell-by date? You could be forgiven for thinking so. This week Buzzfeed posted a list of “20 under 40 Debut Writers You Need To Be Reading”. Making a debut is a huge achievement at any stage in life, and it would be churlish not to celebrate all of them, but something about the age limit makes me uneasy.
Buzzfeed is not alone: the New Yorker and Granta each publish lists of writers under 40, but I’ve yet to see one celebrating the over-50s. Is writing a beauty contest? Is it a sports competition? Beauty, and sporting achievement might be associated, in our culture, with youth (and, even that’s not a given) but there’s no reason this should go for the written word too.
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Buzzfeed is not alone: the New Yorker and Granta each publish lists of writers under 40, but I’ve yet to see one celebrating the over-50s. Is writing a beauty contest? Is it a sports competition? Beauty, and sporting achievement might be associated, in our culture, with youth (and, even that’s not a given) but there’s no reason this should go for the written word too.
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