Old vs. New: Does ageism exist in the literary world?

How old is too old in the world of literature? That’s the question posed in this article on the Guardian website by Robert McCrum. He is, of course, making reference to Diana Athill, whose memoir Somewhere Towards the End had won the Costa Prize. Athill is 91. McCrum makes this very blunt, and somewhat ambiguous statement:

Old people, in general, don’t have literary careers.

Then he goes on to list a number of exceptions to that unwritten rule. Like Daniel DeFoe, who at 59 published Robinson Crusoe, his first novel. And others like William Golding and Graham Greene who went on to publish into old age.

Let’s face it, most literary stars, past and present, are fairly young when they reach the pinnacle of success. Maybe that’s because younger writers bring a new and fresh perspective to their work. Or Maybe it’s because publishers are biased against old writers. Maybe we’re just looking at anecdotal evidence to justify any type of ageism in the literary world. I don’t know.

But near the end of McCrum’s article, he makes an interesting observation:

The truth about most so-called literary careers is that they last 10 years, if you’re lucky. Look at Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Joseph Conrad. They all had "careers", but when you look more closely at the trajectory of literary success, you find that its parabola describes, at best, a decade of creativity.

This also could be anecdotal evidence, but a lot of creative types have a short stay at the top of their game. Some waste away into drug and alcohol abuse. Others lose that "magic touch" and publish worthless drivel for the rest of their lives. And a few just seem to give up for no good reason at all.

Whether or not there is a correlation between age and creativity is up for debate, and would certainly make for an interesting study. My own personal opinion is that the younger generation of writers will always have the upper hand in the creativity department. But like everything else, there will always be an exception to the rule.

What do you think? Is this a battle of the ages? Do older folks have a harder time in the literary world? Are members of the younger generation more creative? Leave a comment and give us your opinion!

Related Posts

• The “crack” of the literary world
• Make your next vacation a literary one!
• Is literary criticism still relevent?
• Follow-up: Literary Frauds Are Nothing New
• The plight of literary magazines

Read More: Author News, Literary News