Triskele Tuesday - #futureclassics

On Tuesday 28 February, our regular fortnightly #twitchat took the subject of #futureclassics. It was a lively affair, with so many intelligent contributions that several people asked for a summary.
So here you go:


Which books or authors of the last ten years will you re-read? And why?

Passions rose to the surface quickly and here are some of the Tweeters' tips:

Crimson Petal & the White by Michel Faber

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

Augustown by Kei Miller

A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

As for future classic authors: Iain Banks, David Foster Wallace, Roberto Bolano, Arundhati Roy, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sarah Waters, Terry Pratchett, Eimear McBride, Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman received general approval.

Are today’s bestsellers future classics or flavour of the month? 

Will YA and children’s fiction provide many of our #future classics? Emphatic agreement here, citing Philip Pullman, Mallory Blackman's Noughts and Crosses, Matt Haig, JK Rowling and Mailbox by Nancy Freund

Is genre fiction as likely as literary fiction to become a classic?

Strong feelings on this one as participants felt strongly about Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, and various works by Ian Rankin, China Mieville, Emily St John Mandel, Becky Chambers, Mary Renault's Alexander books or Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy.

Future classics from poetry?

Suggestions included Sharon Olds, Steve Roggenbuck, Claudia Rankine, Seamus Heaney, Simon Armitage, Geoffrey Hill and Linton Kwesi Johnson, even if not all were in agreement as to classic status.

Classics often help us see the world differently. Which contemporary works have done that?

Mentions of Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman and Murakami's Wind-up Bird Chronicle while Dan Holloway made the point that non-fiction books might be future classics: Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point and Freakonomics; Naomi Klein's canon and poetry of Claudia Rankine's Citizen.

Will #futureclassics encompass a more diverse range of experience?

Recent examples, not only of authors but initiatives, cropped up, including Javier Marias' The Infatuations, Marlon James, Sapphire, Citizen, the Jhalak Prize, VIDA Lit and the Bare Lit Festival.

Discussions continued for long after our allotted hour, so big thanks to all our contributors:

Looking forward to next #triskeletuesday, when we’re discussing #dialogue 

19.30 GMT on Tuesday 14 March
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