Literary Phoenixes

William Faulkner (1897-1962) is now regarded as a celebrated American author. Though he published many books, because of his difficult style, he was not particularly popular either with the critics or readers. By the 1940's, his books began to go out of print &  he was slipping into literary obscurity. Then Malcolm Cowley, managed to publish a selection of his works in "The Portable Faulkner" in 1946. This was instantly popular & there was a resurgence of interest in his works & they began to be reprinted & appreciated. He was even awarded the Nobel Prize  in 1949. He himself said "I owe Malcolm Cowley the kind of debt no man could ever repay."

Barbara Pym (1913-1980) wrote novels in the style of Jane Austen in the 50's. They were popular but received little critical attention. Of After writing six novels, many published by Jonathan Cape, her seventh was rejected by the new editor of Cape, Tom Maschler as being outdated in 1963. She approached other publishers but with no success. In 1977, in an article in the influential Times Literary Supplement, Philip Larkin & Lord David Cecil, declared her as the most under-rated writer of the last 75 years. Interest in her works revived & publishers, including Jonathan Cape, wanted to publish her books. She had not forgotten Cape's earlier rejection & chose Macmillan to publish her books.

Probably inspired by these & to address this problem in at least children's literature, Phoenix awards were constituted in 1985 to award exceptional children's books, which had not received a major award even after 20 years of publication. An example is the winner in 2011, "The Mozart Season" by Virginia Euwer Wolff, first published in 1991, about a little girl learning to play a Violin Concerto of Mozart.