As I eagerly awaited the announcement of the 2008 Montblanc WE, I began to speculate
as to who this year's honoree might be. After the Shaw was revealed, I began to think
about how Montblanc selected a writer (or Patron of the Arts for that matter) each year.

Well, this got me to thinking - "Wow! So many famous writers from history. I wonder who
the WEs will be named for 50 years from now." So that brought me to this question - if
Montblanc were to create a WE for a current writer, who would it be and what would the
pen look like?

I'll start with Stephen King. Black resin in the shape of a tower (ode to Dark Tower) with
Sterling Silver accents (The Shining). Author's signature on the cap in blood red. Clip
would be in the shape of a cat's tale (Pet Sematary), reminiscent of the Snake Clip seen
on the Agatha Christie. The nib would have an image of the Cadillac from Christine.

Let's have some fun - what would you like to see?

J.K. Rowling.

Good call!

I can't think of any better candidate for a Modern Writer's Edition than the woman who introduced an entire generation to the joy of reading.

Already thinking about the 2008 Writer's Edition? I don't think a modern writer being honored would catch on.

I was thinking of a clip with an embossed lightning bolt as seen on Harry's head ever since You Know Who was last seen (before the books start, anyway).

Oh, and the entire pen looking very much like a wand otherwise.

This is a good topic! I wonder what criteria they use for choosing the writers. By modern do you mean living? If not I would love a Roberto Bolano pen, though he would have probably been completely against it. Amongst the living, I would love to see Anne Carson, Fernando del Paso, Antonio Tabucci, and Haruki Murakami.

I'd also be interested in Terry Pratchett, but maybe it's just because I think the writer's series needs more comedians.

Oooh! Tom Stoppard too!

Perfect! I would swoop this pen up in a hurry, being the Potter dork I am! Plus it would help thats its an MB!
I love the lightning bolt clip... Or the pen could be Red and Yellow striped celluloid like the Gryffinfor house colors! Fun!

Not to troll or anything, but this is a serious question:

Do you really think the books that Rowling puts out are of the same caliber and of the same quality prose as the works of the other honored authors? Personally, I think that the stories have a good plot, but her work choice and general sentence structure are not beautiful, are not inspiring, and just are not the same quality of someone such as Kafka, or any other person who has been on a WE. I personally have called her works pedestrian writing with an accidentaly good plot, but to each his own.

Having said that, I can see how one could ignore the actual prose and get into a plot that anyone should have been proud to write.

As for the original question, no one really springs to mind as an obvious choice. I may have to think about it more.

-Nkk

Dunno why, I have a weak spot for MB pens reminescent of women (Woolf and Garbo).

I would vote first for Jane Austen (a proportionate reinterpretation of the Dickens cap would be a nice start) and Edith Wharton (something victorian and Yard-o-Led-ish would be fitting).

Goethe and Hugo could be too difficult to imagine or capture in a pen. They would certainly be controversial.

Heinrich Heine would have a large appeal on both sides of the Atlantic, as maybe would also have Thomas Mann.

If they want to honor an Italian, Pirandello maybe.

I feel like I'm repeating myself from previous similar topics.

No, I dont think that her writings are of the caliber of the other honored authors, but really in this day who is? I mean, you could say that people like Stephen King has written, what I think is hundreds? of books, but does that make him up to the standard? I think not... But who really knows in 50 years... Maybe it will be John Grisham...

I think Rowling was brought up because the effect she has had in general. Who else has created such a culture from books as of late? J. R. R. Tolkien? Thats really it...

No matter how much of Potter fan I am, I agree, it would be strange to have one as a WE... It would be hard for me to take it seriously...
Bry

Though he's not an extraordinary writer, a Vince Flynn pen would be cool to design.

If "current" includes the fairly recently departed, I nominate Saul Bellow and Kurt Vonnegut. Before they get to those two, however, I think they need a Steinbeck to balance out the Hemingway.

Oh, Lord. You said Steinbeck and I instantly had a vision of a FP made like an elongated tuna fish can ("Cannary Row") complete with label, kind of like Warhol meets Steinbeck via MB. Sorry! My dementia made me do it.

Still, Steinbeck is a good idea, even if he is not a current writer.

I am sure the Montbalnc marketing people have their own ideas on this. They will have a good breakdown of their clientiele (ie, WE-clientele) by country, income, etc. Then they will find out writers that appeal to these people. I doubt very much that they will choose a writer who still lives. Also, I guess it would be difficult from a copyright point of view to make a Rowling or Potter pen. Ruud

It's a series of pens for writers. She's a writer.

Honestly, one could argue against any of the choices on the list. Read any Agatha Christie lately?

My vote would be for Douglas Adams. I can't see it happening though.

Walt Disney.

Ayn Rand

It's got to be Calvino.

I can think of several contemporary writers who are publishing amazing books on the same level as those in the WE.

I've found several Christie novels to be excellently crafted. I know that's not really your point, but nevertheless.

Wow! You guys came up with some great names and designs! Great discussion around
Rowling. You've also all added to my reading list as there are quite a number of writers
listed with whom I am not familiar

To clarify my original post, I was thinking "current" as living/writing now (or deceased
in the last 5 - 10 years). I pondered the question from the standpoint of who might be
considered a "literary giant" of the level of a Hemingway, Vernes, Dickens, etc. There
are certainly quite a number of prolific writers (e.g., Grafton, Steele), famous writers
(e.g., Rowling, King), and writers of varying talents, but who would be "worthy"?

The best part about this is there's no "correct" answer. I'm not proposing that MB do
any of these - I wanted to tap into the collective wisdom, creativity, and passion of all
the FPN MB fans to peer into the future based on current day and dream about what
could be.

Keep the great ideas and designs coming!

Samuel Beckett. I am dead certain there will be a fountain pen with his name on it.

[Edited bad English]

Her structure is quite good, but the prose -- not so much. In that sense, I find her similar to Rowling: popular, thorough plotting, not the best stylist.

I have mixed feelings about the whole WE series. This is a series of pens commemorating authors who, more likely than not, would never have used one of "their" pens, would have seen them as too gaudy. On one hand i like the idea but on the other hand, the WE series strikes me as kind of a "wannabe".

That being said, I would vote for a Salman Rushdie edition or Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Someone who writes quality prose.

matt

Rowling's corpus may not be great literature in the same league as Lessing, Rushdie, Oe, Chabon, or any number of other modern authors (the Harry Potter books are *kid's* books, after all!), but the number of children in which she has incubated a, hopefully lifelong, love of reading, is a contribution to society that puts her, as an author, in a class of her own.

Now that you mention it, why not Doris Lessing?

Let's also not forget the large number of adults who also resumed reading as a result of Rowling's Harry Potter series. I was impressed by the many older "children" I observed reading these books on planes, trains, hotel foyers, etc., over the last 7 years.

Mark

John Irving. It would be one sick, twisted pen---and I hope I would enjoy writing with it as much as I have enjoyed reading his novels.

It's more likely Trademark law that'd govern here. Copyright governs creative expression, whereas Trademark deals with name, symbol, etc. Unless Montblanc uses also their works than maybe Copyright may be involved. It wouldn't be too difficult. Money talks

Montblanc probably had to license from the estates of the more recent writers like Christie, Faulkner, and Hemingway. The long dead writers like Cervantes, Dickens, and Proust, are likely no longer protected. I'm curious whether Virginia Woolf still has an estate. It'd probably save Montblanc a load of fees to just pick from writers in the public domain.

That said, I can't decide whether to nominate my favorite writers. What if Montblanc dole out some gaudy potatoes for them? That'd make me hate Montblanc forever!

On second thought, Donna Tartt might be a good candidate even though she may not be as famous. In Tartt's The Secret History, a couple of the characters actually carry Montblanc fountain pens. I don't recall whether Tartt mentioned any particular model, but I'd guess they were most likely something from the Meisterstück series in view of the temperament of those two characters.

If you want to pull authors from the children's genre, they should probably make a Dr. Seuss pen first. Perhaps, then they could roll through Tolkien, Carroll and C.S. Lewis pens.

Why not Trollope?

Yeep why not, but has to be the mom not the son. Way too many boys and not enough girls in this series

Fernando Pessoa would inspire a wonderful pen.

The serial number for each pen could begin with 42.

How about Asimov (Robot theme), Tolkien (Gandolfs staff), Clancy (ICBM),

How about a Gabriela Garcia Marquez?

I've just noticed that poets are under-represented. There is Schiller, of course, and to a lesser degree Wilde, Voltaire and Poe.

So perhaps MB could find a suitable contemporary poet.

Montale? Eliot? Prévert? Heaney?

Marina Tsvetaeva, Rene Char, Gabriela Mistral and Anna Akhmatova!

Now I'm just namedropping, though.

Who should be honoured by MB?
16241 registered FPN members

No offense intended, but "Christine" was a Plymouth, not a Cadillac. Unimportant, I know, but I'm a trivia "nut". (And I once owned a '59 Caddy convert. Chrysler tried to outdo everyone elses fins, but Cadillac trumped everyone in 1959. They broke the mold with Harley Earle).
Krom 101

Mickey Spillane

There are so many good writers that are deserving - but I would have to say J.K. Rawlings. Tenacity and strength - and a belief in her work.

Thank you for the correction. That was sloppy of me. I do like learning so I do appreciate the information.

Hoping for a Tennessee Williams pen.

Edit to add:
And hoping for A G.F. Handel pen in the classical music donations series.