I took my nephew to one of his two classes the other day. He's five months old. Five months! Baby class! A few days before that, I discovered my first four gray hairs. I'm not old. I don't think. But how old is old, how young is young, anymore?
Alfie Patten is thirteen and old enough to decide against an abortion.
I read an interview recently with Zoe Trope, whom Kevin Sampsell published when she was 16 (15?). The pressure to publish younger isn't a myth, is it? I've started seeing bios where writers list their age beside their publications.
Then there are the Granta lists.
I don't know. I feel old. Maybe I'm getting a little carried away because of my incoming birthday. Cold Mountain was Charles Frazier's first book at age forty-seven.
February 27, 2009
How Young Is Young?
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1 comments:
I think the pressure to publish younger is kind of a myth. Plus, the myth or trend only has power if we buy into the idea that publishing younger is better, right?
Most, or at least many, writers put out their first books when they're well out of their, say, twenties. Also, publishing a book when you're really young probably increases the odds (and I am including myself in this) that at 40, you'll look back on your first book and say what the fuck was I thinking?
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