Hensher, branded ungracious by Cambridge professor, says it's becoming impossible for writers to make a living and expect pay
Author Philip Hensher was asked by professor Andrew Webber to write a book introduction for free, which he refused to do. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe
An angry backlash has erupted among UK authors who are increasingly frustrated at being asked to provide their time for nothing, whether writing, reading at literary events or judging book prizes.
Frustration spilled out on Facebook after a University of Cambridge professor of modern German and comparative culture, Andrew Webber, branded the acclaimed literary novelist Philip Hensher "priggish and ungracious" for refusing to write an introduction to the academic's forthcoming guide to Berlin literature for free.
Hensher said: "He's written a [previous] book about writers in Berlin during the 20th century, but how does he think that today's writers make a living? It shows a total lack of support for how writers can live. I'm not just saying it for my sake: we're creating a world where we're making it impossible for writers to make a living."
Hensher, who was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2008 for his novel The Northern Clemency, a portrait of Britain's social landscape through the Thatcher era, wrote his first two novels while working a day job, but said: "I always had an eye to when I would make a living from it. If people who claim to respect literature – professors of literature at Cambridge University – expect it, then I see no future for young authors. Why would you start on a career if it's not just impossible, but improper, to expect payment?"
Author Guy Walters, this week vented his frustrations at a rising number of requests to work for free in an article for literary journal the Literary Review. In it, he cursed his own foolishness for having accepted an invitation to speak at Hay festival in return for six bottles of wine.
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Frustration spilled out on Facebook after a University of Cambridge professor of modern German and comparative culture, Andrew Webber, branded the acclaimed literary novelist Philip Hensher "priggish and ungracious" for refusing to write an introduction to the academic's forthcoming guide to Berlin literature for free.
Hensher said: "He's written a [previous] book about writers in Berlin during the 20th century, but how does he think that today's writers make a living? It shows a total lack of support for how writers can live. I'm not just saying it for my sake: we're creating a world where we're making it impossible for writers to make a living."
Hensher, who was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2008 for his novel The Northern Clemency, a portrait of Britain's social landscape through the Thatcher era, wrote his first two novels while working a day job, but said: "I always had an eye to when I would make a living from it. If people who claim to respect literature – professors of literature at Cambridge University – expect it, then I see no future for young authors. Why would you start on a career if it's not just impossible, but improper, to expect payment?"
Author Guy Walters, this week vented his frustrations at a rising number of requests to work for free in an article for literary journal the Literary Review. In it, he cursed his own foolishness for having accepted an invitation to speak at Hay festival in return for six bottles of wine.
More
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