The Death of the Critic

In an age of book clubs, celebrity endorsements and a blogosphere staffed with thousands of amateur critics, what role is there for the professional critic as an arbiter of artistic value? Is cultural value just a matter of personal taste, with one opinion as good as any other? What function does professional criticism fulfil now, and should we lament the passing of the authority which previous generations of critics enjoyed?

Speakers: John Sutherland, author of The Boy Who Loved Books and Emeritus Lord Northcliffe professor of modern English literature at UCL; Michael Coveney, theatre critic for Whatsonstage.com and formerly staff theatre critic on the Financial Times and The Observer; Rachel Bowlby, Northcliffe professor of modern English literature at UCL and author of Carried Away; Adrian Searle, art critic at The Guardian and visiting professor at the Royal College of Art. Chair: Ronan McDonald, senior lecturer at the University of Reading and author of The Death of the Critic.