The Goldsmiths Prize and Its Conceptualization of Experimental Literature

Abstract

In the aftermath of a critical debate regarding the Man Booker Prize’s adoption of ‘readability’ as the main criterion of literary value, Goldsmiths College established a new literary prize. The Goldsmiths Prize was launched in 2013 as a celebration of ‘fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form.’ Throughout its six editions, the prize has been awarded to such writers as Ali Smith, Nicola Barker and Eimear McBride, and has attracted a lot of media attention. Annually, its jury have written press features praising the shortlisted books, while invited novelists have given lectures on the condition of the novel. Thanks to its quickly won popularity, the Goldsmiths Prize has become the main institution promoting – and conceptualizing – ‘ex-perimental’ fiction in Britain. This article aims to examine all the promotional material accompanying each edition – including jury statements, press releases and commissioned articles in the New Statesman – in order to analyze how the prize defines experimentalism.

Keywords

• goldsmiths prize
• literary prizes
• experimental literature
• avant-gar-de
• contemporary british fiction