15 literary genres (some you’ve heard of; some you haven’t and some that will surprise you…)
Robert McCrum in Monday’s Guardian published a list of 15 different modern literary genres. Not sure how far he was having fun, but even so some surprising omissions.
1. Lit lit ( so good they named it twice…)
2. Ghost lit (Not stories about the white sheet variety but memoirs and novels written by ghost writers)
3. Graphic book lit
4. Chick lit
5. Gran lit (for 60+)
6. Erotic lit
7. Booker lit (Books that the judges might like)
8. US lit
9. Commonwealth lit
10. Oz lit
11. Indian lit
12. Kids’ lit
13. Translated lit
14. SF/fantasy
15. Blog lit (Blogs that become books)
Wonder what happened to historical fiction, crime and thriller.
And is gran lit a white haired version of hag lit I remember hearing about five or six years ago?
And at the other end of the age spectrum what about YA (young adult).
If we are going to have labels, can you think of any other genres that should have been included on the list?
7 comments on “15 literary genres (some you’ve heard of; some you haven’t and some that will surprise you…)”
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How about comedy lit for funny books, and shit lit for greedy celebs, who fill up book shelves with crap!
Greedy Lit – yes! Especially those glossy over-priced lightweight buy-me-as-a-present books by celebs…
blokeit? Specialneedsit?
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bloke Lit — is that Hemmingway or Andy McNab? And is everything left out just plain old fiction?
I hate all these labels, it’s such a pain! 😦 But I understand why it’s done, and probably does help the reader when book buying.
What is commonwealth lit? Lol
Xx
I guess that’s writing from a commonwealth country that isn’t Australia or Indian because they get their own genre. Hang on, that’s means all of Margaret Atwood’s books – including the wonderful Handmaid’s Tale – would come under commonwealth lit. Weird.
Very weird! Lol
Xx