You'd have thought they would have learned after the Orange prize/Lily Allen fiasco that pop stars and book awards aren't the most comfortable of bedfellows, but no. Will Young, it was announced today, is to judge this year's BBC National Short Story awards, at £15,000 the largest in the world for a single short story.
Now, Young seems sweet. He won Pop Idol. His website (check out the scary video as it opens!) says he is "an avid supporter of the arts". And, apparently, he's read Ulysses: "It is quite hard going but somehow necessary," he told This Is London.
But what qualities, exactly, is he bringing to the judging panel (which also includes Margaret Drabble – what a combo)? Not, I'd say, an understanding of what the prize is looking for – his website encourages "budding literary talent[s]" to "showcase [their] work!". A worthy suggestion, no doubt, and it will be interesting to see how these budding talents compare with the likes of Hanif Kureishi, Jackie Kay, Rose Tremain and James Lasdun, all either shortlisted or winners in previous years.
While I accept that the short story is a hard sell as a literary form, and that the organisers are making a publicity play with the appointment of Young, I can't help thinking that, as with Allen and the Orange prize, it's likely to backfire on them. And, as they learned in 2007, there are other ways to grab the headlines: just try getting on the wrong side of Hanif Kureishi.
Blatant grab for publicity? Astute move? You decide.
