The Writer’s Action Group (WAG) and the Fight for Public Lending Right (PLR)
In 1972, the experimental writers Brigid Brophy and Maureen Duffy came together with three friends to found the Writer’s Action Group (WAG). The group aimed to improve the financial lot of British writers, being inspired by an article in the Bookseller stating that the average author earned less in...
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| Publicat a: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles, |
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
| Publicat: |
Angles
2021
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| Matèries: | |
| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_3938 |
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openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
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Anglais |
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Article ou chapitre numérique |
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0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
droit de prêt public littérature d’après-guerre littérature anglophone syndicat d’auteurs Brophy Brigid Duffy Maureen Hughes Ted Society of Authors Writer’s Action Group législation bibliothèques publiques public lending right post-war literature English literature writer’s unions Brophy Brigid Duffy Maureen Hughes Ted Society of Authors Writer’s Action Group legislation public libraries |
| spellingShingle |
droit de prêt public littérature d’après-guerre littérature anglophone syndicat d’auteurs Brophy Brigid Duffy Maureen Hughes Ted Society of Authors Writer’s Action Group législation bibliothèques publiques public lending right post-war literature English literature writer’s unions Brophy Brigid Duffy Maureen Hughes Ted Society of Authors Writer’s Action Group legislation public libraries Darlington, Joseph The Writer’s Action Group (WAG) and the Fight for Public Lending Right (PLR) |
| description |
In 1972, the experimental writers Brigid Brophy and Maureen Duffy came together with three friends to found the Writer’s Action Group (WAG). The group aimed to improve the financial lot of British writers, being inspired by an article in the Bookseller stating that the average author earned less in 1971 than they had done in 1966 even before taking into account the rapid inflation of the new decade. Within a year, they had published 17 articles arguing for writers to unionise and fight for Public Lending Right (PLR), a small royalty fee to be paid every time a writer’s book was borrowed from a public library. Other writers flocked to join WAG including B.S. Johnson, Giles Gordon, Eva Figes, Ted Hughes, Anthony Burgess, Doris Lessing and Raymond Williams. The fight for Public Lending Right was won in 1974 when the Public Lending Right Act was voted through the Commons. It is a story of high passions, entrenched beliefs and internecine conflicts. In particular, the group’s struggle with the Society of Authors involved a dramatic escalation from initial cordiality, through each side trashing the other in the press, to a final, dramatic showdown during the Society’s 1973 AGM. The conflict represented a core contention at the heart of post-war British writing: are writers to be seen as workers or as aesthetes? Using materials sourced from a wide range of archives alongside interviews with participants, this paper charts the rise of WAG from a personal passion project through to a radical movement and finally into a mature campaigning body. |
| author |
Darlington, Joseph |
| author_facet |
Darlington, Joseph |
| author_sort |
Darlington, Joseph |
| title |
The Writer’s Action Group (WAG) and the Fight for Public Lending Right (PLR) |
| title_short |
The Writer’s Action Group (WAG) and the Fight for Public Lending Right (PLR) |
| title_full |
The Writer’s Action Group (WAG) and the Fight for Public Lending Right (PLR) |
| title_fullStr |
The Writer’s Action Group (WAG) and the Fight for Public Lending Right (PLR) |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Writer’s Action Group (WAG) and the Fight for Public Lending Right (PLR) |
| title_sort |
writer’s action group (wag) and the fight for public lending right (plr) |
| publisher |
Angles |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.3938 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/3938 |
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1877293350957088768 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_3938 https://doi.org/10.4000/angles.3938 urn:doi:10.4000/angles.3938 en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/3938 2021-12-27T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/9n1i https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Writer’s Action Group (WAG) and the Fight for Public Lending Right (PLR) Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Darlington, Joseph droit de prêt public littérature d’après-guerre littérature anglophone syndicat d’auteurs Brophy Brigid Duffy Maureen Hughes Ted Society of Authors Writer’s Action Group législation bibliothèques publiques public lending right post-war literature English literature writer’s unions Brophy Brigid Duffy Maureen Hughes Ted Society of Authors Writer’s Action Group legislation public libraries In 1972, the experimental writers Brigid Brophy and Maureen Duffy came together with three friends to found the Writer’s Action Group (WAG). The group aimed to improve the financial lot of British writers, being inspired by an article in the Bookseller stating that the average author earned less in 1971 than they had done in 1966 even before taking into account the rapid inflation of the new decade. Within a year, they had published 17 articles arguing for writers to unionise and fight for Public Lending Right (PLR), a small royalty fee to be paid every time a writer’s book was borrowed from a public library. Other writers flocked to join WAG including B.S. Johnson, Giles Gordon, Eva Figes, Ted Hughes, Anthony Burgess, Doris Lessing and Raymond Williams. The fight for Public Lending Right was won in 1974 when the Public Lending Right Act was voted through the Commons. It is a story of high passions, entrenched beliefs and internecine conflicts. In particular, the group’s struggle with the Society of Authors involved a dramatic escalation from initial cordiality, through each side trashing the other in the press, to a final, dramatic showdown during the Society’s 1973 AGM. The conflict represented a core contention at the heart of post-war British writing: are writers to be seen as workers or as aesthetes? Using materials sourced from a wide range of archives alongside interviews with participants, this paper charts the rise of WAG from a personal passion project through to a radical movement and finally into a mature campaigning body. En 1972, les écrivains expérimentaux Brigid Brophy et Maureen Duffy se réunirent avec trois amis pour fonder le Writer’s Action Group (WAG). Le groupe visait à améliorer le sort financier des écrivains britanniques, inspiré par un article de Bookseller qui affirmait que l'auteur moyen gagnait moins en 1971 qu'en 1966, même sans tenir compte de l’inflation rapide de la nouvelle décennie. En l’espace d'un an, le groupe publica 17 articles prônant la syndicalisation des écrivains et la lutte pour le Droit de prêt public (DPP), une petite redevance payée chaque fois que le livre d'un écrivain est emprunté dans une bibliothèque publique. D'autres écrivains sont venus rejoindre le WAG, notamment B.S. Johnson, Giles Gordon, Eva Figes, Ted Hughes, Anthony Burgess, Doris Lessing et Raymond Williams. La lutte pour le droit de prêt public fut gagnée en 1974 lorsqu’une loi sur le droit de prêt public fut adoptée par la Chambre des Communes. Cet article fait le récit des passions fortes, des croyances bien ancrées et des conflits internes qui aboutirent à cette loi. Un moment clé fut la lutte du groupe avec la Society of Authors qui connut une escalade dramatique, de la convivialité initiale à l'épreuve de force finale et dramatique lors de l’assemblée générale annuelle de la Society of Authors en 1973, en passant par le dénigrement des uns et des autres dans la presse. Le conflit représentait une controverse au cœur de l’écriture britannique d’après-guerre : les écrivains doivent-ils être considérés comme des travailleurs ou des esthètes ? À l’aide de documents provenant d’un large éventail d’archives et d’entretiens avec les participants dans cette lutte, cet article retrace l’ascension de WAG depuis ses prémisses comme projet personnel, puis par sa transformation en un mouvement radical jusqu'à aboutir à un instrument de campagne efficace. |