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Author’s high stakes battle with his critics
File pic - Bestselling author and writer Graham 'G.P' Taylor, pictured at his home in Scalby. 092431f pic Andrew Higgins 09/06/09 in News
AN AUTHOR appearing at a district school today to promote children’s literacy has found himself adrift in a sea of controversy following the publication of his new novel about vampires.
New York Times best-selling writer G.P. Taylor – a former Vicar of Whitby – has been criticised by religious organisation Christian Voice, who said of his new book, The Vampire Labyrinth: Red Eye: “These kind of books are just a further step down the ladder into a culture that’s daily becoming more crass, more coarse, more violent and more sexualised.”
Vivienne Pattison, director of Mediawatch, a group that campaigns for ‘family values in the media’, also sunk her teeth into Taylor. She said: “The Vampire Labyrinth raises the question as to whether books should be classified as U/PG/15 or 18 and some kind of warning given to parents, as it contains scenes of graphic horror and violence, including stabbing, burning, torture and throat-ripping.”
However, Mr Taylor (pictured), who visits Barlby High School today, has hit back at his critics. He told the Selby Times: “It feels really strange to hear people calling for my book to be banned because it scares children.
“On the contrary, when you read the reviews written by children on Amazon, they seem to really like it. When kids read it they find it really exciting – adults seem to find it scary, but it could be that some adults are bringing their own agenda to the book when they sit down with it.”
The book – which was just published last week – has already sold out its 50,000 first print and Graham’s publishers, Faber, are rushing out a reprint.
“In many ways, the critics might have done me a big favour – they’ve highlighted the book to a lot of readers who might not otherwise have heard of it,” he said.
“What they’re saying is absolute tosh – the book’s simply a classic battle between good and evil, nothing more, nothing less – it’s an adventure story with vampires.”
Barlby High School headteacher Heather Scott said: “Graham is of the moment and writing for the young people of today. We’re really looking forward to having him at the school.”
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Weather for Selby
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
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