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Literature
New Englanders highly value the written word. In the last twenty-five years, a thriving culture of writers, poets and novelists has emerged in a number of cities and towns. New Englanders value the written word over all other forms of entertainment and cultural expression. The literacy rate has never fallen below 99.9% since the 2015 census.
The national education curriculum encourages reading and creative writing, which has spawned a large number of writers, journalists and editors. Indeed in recent years, publishing houses in Europe have been keen to recruit New Englanders as they have some of the best writing skills in the English speaking world. There is also a small, but vibrant film script writing community that enjoys high demand abroad.
History
The development of a culture of writing was slow to take off in New England. Before independence, and for many years afterwards, most people with any ambitions of becoming poets or writers soon left for for larger cities in Australia or Europe.
Today, literature is considered to be the hishest form of cultural expression, and shadows all other forms including cinema, music and television.
Prominent Figures
Literary Prizes
Literature of New England
Writers: Dame Karen Eden · John Houston · Doug Lindsey
Poets: Sir Paul O'Keefe
