David Mitchell: separating literary and genre fiction is act of 'self-mutilation'

The Booker-nominated author – now winner of the World Fantasy award – cites novels of Dickens and Orwell as ‘shot through with fantasy’

Author David Mitchell has let loose the latest salvo in the perennial “literary vs genre” war by saying that those who dismiss fantasy and science fiction are committing a “bizarre act of self-mutilation”.

Mitchell is one of the handful of authors with a foot in both camps. He’s beloved of the literary establishment, and has been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize twice, and longlisted on a further three occasions. On the other hand, on Sunday he lifted the best novel trophy in the World Fantasy awards for his 2014 novel Bone Clocks, and his latest book, The Slade House, is an unabashed haunted house story.

Related: World Fantasy award drops HP Lovecraft as prize image

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