Who is Britain’s greatest living writer?
Good question. The Guardian puts it to the test.
8 thoughts on “Who is Britain’s greatest living writer?”
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A journal by artist and designer John Coulthart.
Well the greatest dead writer would have to be Shakespeare I suppose.
Glad to find Stoppard in the top 4.
He may be British but he was actually born in Czechoslovakia.
Likes to describe himself as a bounced Czech.
His original birth name isn’t very British
Tomá? Straussler
PS his new play sounds interesting
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/80581
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_’n’_Roll_(play)
I fixed one of your links, an apostrophe threw it off.
These lists are always problematic since they’re usually about favourites and popularity rather than quality. Stoppard is a rare example of a playwright getting a look in, usually people only consider fiction writers in polls like this. Poets, playwrights, essayists seem to be cast as lesser beings.
Very true
1001 Books you must read before you die doesn’t include a single play or book of poems or essays.
Alan Moore. Not only is he Britain?s greatest living writer, he is the greatest writer of the English language with blood still pumping through his heart. I can’t understand why The Guardian would even need to ask this question. They should have simply announced the answer: Dear everyone, Alan Moore is Britain?s greatest living writer. There is nothing to discuss. We just thought you should know.
Alan is on my list, certainly. Along with the New Worlds crew–Moorcock, Ballard and M John Harrison–and probably Iain Sinclair for his essays. Just don’t ask me to pick a favourite. None of these people featured in The Guardian story, of course.
I wouldn’t presume to know the answer to this question. In fact I doubt an answer is findable or even desirable. Like John above, I have a lot of admiration for M John, Moorcock, Sinclair, Moore & Ballard. I also think Christopher Priest is still grossly and criminally under-rated.
Seconded!