Public‐Facing Literature: Festivals, Prizes, and Social Media

Abstract

The twentieth and twenty‐first centuries have seen rapid expansion in the social and promotional infrastructures that scaffold engagement with literature. This chapter explains the public‐facing constitution of contemporary literature, exploring how literary festivals, prizes, and traditional and social media shape literary engagement in the twenty‐first century. It explores how, in the contemporary context, the book operates in a diffuse, symbolic and consecrating way, rather than as the primary mode of communication. Literary festivals are run by the literary community, but their events cater primarily and directly for readers. Literary prizes and literary festivals, as public‐facing literary institutions, have long been promoted by and provided rich material for scandal to journalists. They remain highly promotable on social media, but their well‐defined role as brokers in the trajectory of book from author to reader has been complicated.