What is literary fiction?

Literary fiction is creative storytelling that transcends typical genres and labels.

But what is literary fiction, exactly?

Literary fiction is creative storytelling that goes beyond conventional genres and classifications: consequently, some critics describe the art form as non-genre fiction or, at times, “highbrow” fiction (though most authors dislike this description!)

The distinctions between commercial generic fiction and literary fiction are emphasised by the following features:

• Literary fiction tends to prioritize character development over plot progression
  

• Literary fiction delves into the human condition

  
  

• Much literary fiction includes social and/or political commentary

  
  

• Literary fiction frequently addresses issues of race and/or gender

  
  

• Literary fiction frequently employs elegant, complex, and/or unexpected / unique writing styles

  
  

• Authors of literary fiction often use unusual approaches to narrative, unconventional viewpoints, and off-kilter visualisations to enrich their works
  

• Authors of literary fiction occasionally use recurrent themes (motifs) to link complicated ideas and arguments

  
  

• Symbolism and allegory are common devices in literary fiction that help authors convey character emotions, communicate complex ideas, and encourage a deeper, more satisfying, reader engagement
  

  
  

  

Delia Owens (Where the Crawdads Sing)

Donna Tartt (The Goldfinch)

John Steinbeck (Of Mice and Men)

Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day)

Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale)

Neil Mach (The Patternmaker and the Tide)

Sally Rooney (Normal People)

Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar)