tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post944271931292785326..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: #OscarsSoWhite and #BestNovelSoMaleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-70416228994493040222016-03-08T21:11:30.953-05:002016-03-08T21:11:30.953-05:00I'm glad you are thinking about bringing back ...I'm glad you are thinking about bringing back the Spinetingler awards. They're fantastic and well-respected and it's a great feather in a writer's cap to get nominated, never mind win. But since you asked, I'll say I'm not a fan of splitting the categories up by gender. At Shotgun Honey, the majority of our submissions are written by men. And I'm guessing, right now, that's the trend for most straight up crime fiction publications--maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think so. I think writers, male or female, want their work to be treated equally. Splitting the categories might mean (if my guess is correct) that the women's group will be smaller and the competition will be lighter, which makes the award itself unequal. <br /><br />I like the idea of splitting the categories but I'm not sure it works at the moment. Jen Conleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11515505749796691913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-39565832760770622962016-03-07T15:33:52.360-05:002016-03-07T15:33:52.360-05:00Yeah, that's more about personal reading taste...Yeah, that's more about personal reading tastes. When assigned to read for an award you read the list. Then the assessment is about quality of writing, not taste. <br /><br />I really get pissed at the thought that we have to have a quota for what's nominated. I hate to think I have to figure out the best book by each gender, even if there are a dozen better books by the other gender. I don't want to feel like a single category has to broken into subcategories because then the nominees aren't best book. They're best book that fits the subcategory quota that isn't stated but required to prevent accusations of discrimination. <br /><br />Would we see the same accusation if all nominees were by female authors? Doubtful. It would heralded as a glorious day for women. Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-85812047260059712032016-03-07T12:51:57.924-05:002016-03-07T12:51:57.924-05:00Well, there's the gender of the author and the...Well, there's the gender of the author and then the gender of the book. We have an odd situation in Canada where the best-known, award-winning, best-seller crime novels are mostly written by women but they almost all have a male protagonist (Louise Penny, Maureen Jennings, Brabara Fradkin...) The best-sellers with female protagonists are mostly written by men (Ian Hamilton, Michael Redhill as Inger Ash Wolfe...). I have no idea why this is.<br /><br />But I will be totally honest and say I am often diappointed by these books. I have rarely found much insight into the main characters of the kind I get in, say, Alice Munro stories or Megan Abbott's writing. Or Ian Rankin's. <br /><br />I have no idea if you should split the categories.<br />John McFetridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442198820998606682noreply@blogger.com