Malorie Blackman, the British Children’s Laureate for 2013-15 wants children to read more. But I take issue with two other thoughts she voiced last week. She talked of how, as a young black girl, she had felt “totally invisible in the world of literature”; and how, when studying history, she had wanted to learn something that “felt more relevant” than the Tudors. Really? The books I read as a boy weren’t exactly full of Jewish, northern, working-class people, but it didn’t make me feel invisible. My friends and I “didn’t read to self-identify” but to explore the world. Besides, the best books speak to all readers in a way that transcends such details as ethnic identity or gender. Take history. It’s “not history’s job to be relevant to us”. To make it so is to cramp a child’s curiosity and block access to other sources of enlightenment. So yes, let’s champion reading. But take the “relevance” route and “you don’t educate, you disinherit”.(Howard Jacobson, The Independent)

I would say that Ms. Blackman’s point is narrow- minded, that she makes a fool of herself and is guilty of the very cultural divisiveness she purports to deplore. Epicureans keep open minds and learn from great books and great writers whether they happen to be black, white or cream.