The A to Z Challenge asks bloggers to post 26 articles on a themed topic. It’s supposed to be every day except Sundays during the month of April but I did this last year, found it way to busy for the likes of me, and decided to post mine ‘about’ once a month. Yes, it’ll take me a couple of years. Sigh.
My topic, like the last two times I did the conventional approach, will be writing genres.
This genre:
Varsity Novel
Definition
a novel whose main action is set in and around the campus of a university with a focus on students rather than faculty. Sometimes, more generally called ‘academic novels’
Tips
- Don’t focus on faculty. This is called ‘campus novel’.
- The primary characters are usually students, but they can interact with faculty.
- This may be a satire but doesn’t have to be.
- Action takes place in a finite, enclosed space (the campus)
- Tell the story from the viewpoint of the student(s).
- The plot may exploit the fictional possibilities created by the closed environment.
- Include idiosyncratic characters that inhabit unambiguous hierarchies. They may juxtapose the cultural perspective of staff vs. the social attitudes of students.
Popular Books
- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
- Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
- Changing Places by David Lodge
- Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
- The Groves of Academe by Mary McCarthy
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Click for complete list of these 26 genres
Click for a complete list of all genres I’ve written about
More V Genres:
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Man vs. Nature saga, and the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice, a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Laws of Nature, Summer 2021.
I learned something new, Jacqui! I haven’t read any in this genre yet. I’ve read a book with the campus as the background but the main characters are not only students. I guess it doesn’t count. 🙂
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I probably would have liked this when I was in college. Those days seem to distant to get into a story about them.
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How interesting, Jacqui. I am reading a literary fiction novel right now which would fit into this genre too.
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That’s interesting. I’m sure there are a lot I didn’t think of–it seems like a theme that would be popular.
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Yes, I think you are correct.
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I like your approach to the A-Z Challenge, Jacqui! I know better than to tackle it. I tried NaNoWriMo in November. It nearly did me in, but the work I accomplished is helping me now! I never knew there was a Varsity Novel genre. It sounds like it would be a fun genre to read. Have a good one!
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I tried NaNo too. I write plenty of words but that approach just didn’t work for me. I’m glad you found it helpful. I’ll be doing A to Z again this year but my own way. I’ve just about run through this series of genres!
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Interesting post, Jacqui. I read Brideshead Revisited back in the 80’s, and loved it, but never thought of it as a varsity novel. I don’t think the term was even used back then for novels.
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I agree. I think these subgenres have popped up fairly recently, often to describe books in the bloated literary fiction genre. But hard to say!
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Is Catch in the Rye considered a Varsity novel?
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If you consider its main setting as a college campus, it is. I think these genres are quite fungible.
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That’s an interesting genre. I’m trying to think if I’ve read any. I don’t think so. I haven’t read any you listed, though I believe I did try Brideshead Revisited at one stage.
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You’d think they’d be fun books but none of the examples I found were. They were closer to literary fiction than genre reads.
BTW, thank you for the comments on my teacher blog, Ask a Tech Teacher. For some reason, I can’t get comments to appear on the posts (sigh). I’ve emailed my tech guy.
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I thought you were your tech guy. 🙂
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I do the grunt work. He does the brains. It’s a nice collaboration of our tech talents.
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Perfect!
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Hi Jacqui – there are lots more genre than one realises … and I’m sure tucked away in the archives there are loads that have been ‘lost’ for now … and there’ve been some interesting films about this era in life … which can resurface years later in meet ups … stay safe – Hilary
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I do dabble in the defunct genres at times, especially when I can’t find another that starts with X. They are pretty interesting in themselves.
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You learn something new every day. Wished I’d learned more when I was in school.
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Hehee. I bet you’re learning more retired than you ever learned in school. Quilting? Who would have thought…
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Very interesting! Sounds like our grands might enjoy these… Thanks for building our genre vocab, Jacqui. It’s fascinating how specific genre is becoming.
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It is! I’m not sure why that is but it is a trend.
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How interesting–I didn’t even know this was a subgenre. I suppose your naval academy stuff would qualify, but I haven’t written anything like that. I’ve seen a bunch of college age movies, though, and I quite like Legally Blonde. Never cared for Animal House, even though it was very popular.
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I’m in my third year of genres so I’m really searching all the corners of the literary world for these!
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I didn’t know that this was a genre, though it makes sense to me now. There are quite a few books that I can think of that would fit this profile. I read one recently (the name escapes me) of a student who plotted revenge on an old teacher who had humiliated him as a child.
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I suppose it will have to expand (or develop a subgenre) for virtual campuses.
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These subgenres are more like detailed categorizations. I have a friend who writes Regency genre novels–the early 1800s. She looks for just that type of novel. I think this varsity novel designation is like that.
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Yet another new one to learn about! Thanks, Jacqui!
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For those who would like to write about schooltime adventures.
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I have read books that have been written about students or from their perspective but didn’t know it could be a different genre. Is it American term?
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I don’t think it’s American, considering the authors it includes but I’m not sure. Are genres cross-cultural?
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Thanks, Jacqui:) Not sure I’ve read one.
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I’ve read Evelyn Waugh but not this book. I think of her as literary fiction so this would probably be a sub-genre for her.
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Interesting, this seemed such a popular genre in the second half of the 20th century. To the list of those well-known in / from the UK, alongside the Waugh, Amis, and Lodge, I’d add ‘The History Man’ (1975) by Malcolm Bradbury. Broadly contemporary to Lodge’s campus novels but the humour is darker and more political.
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Interesting addition. Thanks for that.
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Interesting. I didn’t even realize this was a genre!
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A subgenre for those who like to read about school settings. I have another coming up that is the Academic subgenre–about teachers in schools. Interesting!
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I’ve never heard of this as a genre, Jacqui, though I can see it. It’s interesting that it’s distinguished from “Campus” genre by which characters are the focus of the story. I enjoy these. Thanks for sharing!
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I wouldn’t have thought Evelyn Waugh was in this but I haven’t read Brideshead Revisited.
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That was the only title I recognized, but I haven’t read that one either. 🙂
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I didn’t know this genre existed either! I wonder if screenplays also have this genre? I can think of many movies and series that the story revolves around students on campus!
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For teachers and college-age students, it would probably be popular. My classes are all virtual so not sure I would get excited about these stories.
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I’d never heard of the varsity novel genre–although I have read some.
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I think the more time I spend on these genres, the more the literary world fragments stories. I suppose that’s why I can come up with 26 new ones every year!
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Would you say that the fragmentation is a positive development or negative?
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For me, it’s positive. It makes it easier to find what you want to read. What do you think?
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I’m leaning a bit more to the negative side because I try to approach a book without preconceived notions. The other thing is that narrow genre labels tend to pigeonhole books that have a blend of more than one genre. On the other hand, so many books are being published now that some winnowing mechanism is needed.
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I agree with both of your arguments, Liz. I don’t actually find books by genre so it doesn’t matter a lot to me. I usually find them by author or recommendation from friends.
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You listed some great titles (and some I’d never even heard of, I must admit). Then there’s me… my first thought was Animal House. Wonder what that says about my taste in fiction? (Maybe I don’t want to know.)
Great choice for a V topic, Jacqui.
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Hehee–of course! That might be the one most of us recognize!
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I was completely unaware of this genre, Jacqui. Thanks for the introduction. I think I could have fun with this one.
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I like the general genres–historical fiction or romance–but then again, I write in a subgenre many probably haven’t heard of–prehistoric. I’m a lot easier to find in that small group than the huge one that is historical fiction.
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We don’t use the word varsity in Australia, university is called uni. I wonder if that means the genre is mostly American?
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I don’t think so. You don’t use Varsity to cover college, Uni’s, post-grad, business schools–all of those post-HS study programs?
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Nope, it is never used in Australia. We use the word tertiary to cover post-HS study. I’ve always thought of it as an American word as the only place I’ve ever heard it used is in American movies and TV.
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Interesting. You are probably right. I like the word ‘tertiary’.
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