Following an afternoon with the Publishing Committee examining bottom lines, business models, and marketing strategies, what a contrast it was to settle into one hour and fifteen minutes of the ALA/ERT/Booklist Author Forum, a reminder of what a simple delightful it can be to listen to five intelligent authors do nothing more than talk about books—well, not about books really, about ideas. As the Association’s annual business meeting, Midwinter tends to be less program-oriented than the ALA Annual Conference, but it is perhaps that very dearth of programs that helped make this panel discussion so welcome. Several hundred people showed up.
The forum featured authors David Levithan, Stewart O’Nan, Armistead Maupin, and Susan Vreeland, with Booklist Adult Books Editor Brad Hooper moderating. Vreeland talked about how her genre of historical fiction has broken out of its “kings and queens” stigma over the past 10 years. “Libraries are marvelous sources of information about the foot soldiers,” she said, explaining that stories about Napoleon’s troops make every bit as interesting reading as the little emperor himself. Asked to define the difference between popular and literary fiction, Levithan said the question itself made him “want to eat this couch.” O’Nan agreed, saying that his quest as a writer was for ’that which is overlooked, ordinary.” He noted that what gets called “popular” and what gets called “literary” is a creation of the market.
Noted for Tales of the City (his breakthrough fiction about gay life in San Francisco), Maupin punctuated the session nicely by saying, “The pleasure I get out of writing is imagining the reader at the other end.” What librarian doesn’t understand that?