The Future of the Novel

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Author and essayist Simon Okotie interprets the signposts – evident through the history of the novel – that point to the form’s future. We’re used to the novel being declared dead, dying, or endangered. Seemingly every few years, a critic will read it the last rites – yet the form remains more popular than ever with readers. In The Future of the Novel , author Simon Okotie presents a bold future for long-form fiction, and suggests its evolution is far from over. Okotie begins by responding to and critiquing John Carruthers’ book Scheherezade, or The Future of the English Novel , published in 1927 as part of the ‘To-day and To-morrow’ series – the inspiration for our present-day FUTURES. He then cites others who have since meditated on the direction of the form: Henry James, D. H. Lawrence, William Burroughs, Anaïs Nin, Zadie Smith, and China Miéville, among others. In doing so, he also tells