Zürcher Nachrichten - Romantasy and dark college: young readers drive new literary trends

EUR -
AED 3.821057
AFN 73.006821
ALL 98.512217
AMD 415.678797
ANG 1.873062
AOA 948.764769
ARS 1069.072052
AUD 1.649931
AWG 1.872562
AZN 1.770572
BAM 1.955447
BBD 2.098421
BDT 124.19758
BGN 1.956839
BHD 0.392129
BIF 3072.506989
BMD 1.040312
BND 1.411906
BOB 7.181704
BRL 6.505282
BSD 1.039312
BTN 88.499776
BWP 14.434394
BYN 3.401186
BYR 20390.119174
BZD 2.091322
CAD 1.49394
CDF 2985.696084
CHF 0.935655
CLF 0.037305
CLP 1029.367761
CNY 7.592096
CNH 7.600745
COP 4550.231947
CRC 527.704739
CUC 1.040312
CUP 27.568273
CVE 110.282725
CZK 25.128844
DJF 185.07659
DKK 7.463155
DOP 63.308572
DZD 140.574623
EGP 52.912125
ERN 15.604683
ETB 132.329112
FJD 2.41212
FKP 0.823909
GBP 0.828868
GEL 2.923205
GGP 0.823909
GHS 15.283044
GIP 0.823909
GMD 74.902906
GNF 8982.3785
GTQ 8.008518
GYD 217.440748
HKD 8.07922
HNL 26.406233
HRK 7.462062
HTG 135.862824
HUF 411.523555
IDR 16866.581743
ILS 3.79457
IMP 0.823909
INR 88.831167
IQD 1361.45423
IRR 43784.131855
ISK 145.175469
JEP 0.823909
JMD 161.930768
JOD 0.737895
JPY 163.687937
KES 134.324804
KGS 90.506913
KHR 4176.242501
KMF 484.915563
KPW 936.280401
KRW 1516.624314
KWD 0.320604
KYD 0.866144
KZT 538.412806
LAK 22728.896977
LBP 93069.29912
LKR 306.304706
LRD 189.22587
LSL 19.325111
LTL 3.071771
LVL 0.629274
LYD 5.102079
MAD 10.480808
MDL 19.175538
MGA 4902.11507
MKD 61.518895
MMK 3378.893454
MNT 3534.98073
MOP 8.314299
MRU 41.48851
MUR 48.96761
MVR 16.02902
MWK 1802.174671
MXN 20.97774
MYR 4.667854
MZN 66.479829
NAD 19.325111
NGN 1603.786908
NIO 38.243096
NOK 11.804528
NPR 141.547448
NZD 1.842566
OMR 0.400258
PAB 1.039312
PEN 3.870101
PGK 4.218239
PHP 60.909762
PKR 289.341068
PLN 4.260908
PYG 8105.536788
QAR 3.781353
RON 4.977166
RSD 116.947785
RUB 103.957734
RWF 1449.838275
SAR 3.906518
SBD 8.721515
SCR 14.841021
SDG 625.744421
SEK 11.551938
SGD 1.413264
SHP 0.823909
SLE 23.721347
SLL 21814.829886
SOS 593.992772
SRD 36.471239
STD 21532.362215
SVC 9.094358
SYP 2613.815872
SZL 19.33351
THB 35.547799
TJS 11.374265
TMT 3.651496
TND 3.31516
TOP 2.436519
TRY 36.73036
TTD 7.062725
TWD 34.010202
TZS 2517.555813
UAH 43.577933
UGX 3804.313245
USD 1.040312
UYU 46.277438
UZS 13417.577857
VES 53.654247
VND 26444.736193
VUV 123.507948
WST 2.874162
XAF 655.838608
XAG 0.035157
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.811496
XDR 0.796856
XOF 655.838608
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.468147
ZAR 19.379149
ZMK 9364.060487
ZMW 28.762808
ZWL 334.980105
  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.24

    -0.14%

  • RBGPF

    59.8000

    59.8

    +100%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

Romantasy and dark college: young readers drive new literary trends
Romantasy and dark college: young readers drive new literary trends / Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV - AFP

Romantasy and dark college: young readers drive new literary trends

From romantasy to dark college, legions of young readers are diving into eclectic new literary subgenres in a trend turbo-charged by social media.

Text size:

At the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, fans flocked to colourful stands showcasing "new adult" literature that filled an 8,000-square-metre (86,000 square feet) hall.

The trend has been fuelled by authors and publishers posting on social media, and readers giving feedback, particularly under the hashtag BookTok on TikTok.

"New adult brought me back to reading," Julia Kendall, a 30-year-old teacher, told AFP at the book fair, the world's largest.

"I didn't read at all for a while, then I held my first book by Mona Kasten in my hand and loved it," she said, referring to a popular German author of romantasy -- a neologism of romance and fantasy.

New adult literature is generally aimed at readers aged 18 to 25, and usually contains more mature themes, such as explicit scenes or drug use, that could be considered off-limits for younger audiences.

Some authors have taken on a near rockstar status, with legions of fans who will queue for hours at events to meet them and get autographs.

- Breaking boundaries -

One such popular author is Jane S. Wonda, who has written hit "dark romance" books that fuse elements of traditional romance with eroticism and darker subjects such as violence or drugs.

The 33-year-old, who is self-published, told AFP she believed her works "break boundaries" and represent a shift away from social "over-correctness... towards something more morally grey".

For Wonda, her readers are "very close" and their responses -- particularly on social media -- influence her writing.

"I pay a lot of attention to what feedback readers give to me: So, what do they write to me in messages? What do they respond to the most?"

Astrid Ohletz, who runs the Germany-based independent publisher Ylva, which focuses on lesbian romance books, said the social media-driven buying behaviour of young adult readers was "changing the industry".

"The big publishers are conservative. They know that they need to change -- but they really don't like it," she said.

Ohletz established her own relatively small outfit 12 years ago and sells mainly ebooks, in German and in English, in her domestic market and overseas.

- 'Reading fever' -

Splashy appearance and style are key in "new adult" literature.

Readers want attractive books that will stand out on social media, with publishers striving to produce ever more elaborate covers.

"For a lot of new adult readers, the book is more than just reading material," said Jeannette Bauroth at Second Chances, a publisher that translates books into German that she feels have been passed over by the local market.

Many want "pretty books" to take so-called "shelfies" -- snaps of their book shelves that they post on social media, she said.

Bauroth gave the example of a series of books they published in the "queer sports romance" subgenre with the edge of the pages sprayed with colourful patterns.

But there are concerns in some quarters that the new adult genres "dumb down" literature and encourage young readers toward less serious works.

Some romance books have also faced criticism for being too dark, especially when it comes to how they portray relationships.

"I wish that some of the books were more healthy in their relationships," Ohletz said. "I don't get why they have a tendency to be a bit misogynistic."

However she and many other industry figures at the book fair were broadly positive about a trend they believe is encouraging more young people to pick up books.

Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, chairwoman of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, said there was "an absolute reading fever" among younger adults.

"They are finding an impulse for reading online... This generation moves naturally between analogue and digital," she said.

E.Leuenberger--NZN