Antilles: the weblog of the CRB

"More democratic"

Drowned out by the brouhaha of Hay, and then by the miles of column inches devoted to the Orange prize, the Commonwealth prize deserves more attention.... For Colin Channer, director of Jamaica's Calabash literary festival (where this year's winners were announced) and one of this year's final judges, the Commonwealth is more genuinely international than the Booker, and more democratic. It is certainly more likely to showcase a broad range of fiction.

--Toby Lichtig, arguing at the UK Guardian books blog that the British media should pay more attention to the Commonwealth Writers' Prizes. He also quotes Colin Channer's recommendations for "modernising" the prize. "Too many of the regional judges are academics."