The Weirdness of Literary Prizes

"I think of writers as mostly a horizontal tribe, people who work beside each other, people who avoid hierarchies. And then we publish a book, if we’re lucky, and our publishers, if they’re good publishers, enter our book into contests. And suddenly, we’re pitted against other writers for a prize that only one of us can win."

http://lithub.com/attending-a-literary-award-ceremony-held-in-an-alternate-universe/