Neil Gaiman has a lovely conversation with Kazuo Ishiguro in the New Statesman. It begins with a discussion of how and if genre is an important concept before delving into wider topics like the fostering (or discouraging) of creativity in societies and how stories connect you to the past.

I don’t really have much to add beyond linking to it, other than to say I was nodding along enthusiastically through their entire discussion of the complicated importance of genre. They didn’t simply dismiss it, though the conversation started from the proposition that artificial barriers between what can and cannot be said in a certain sort of novel are silly. I appreciated that they acknowledged how genres can foster communities while still being frustrated by the rigidity that can result. In particular, I think Ishiguro’s observations about genre and class when it comes to literature in particular (as opposed to, say, film) really hit the nail on the head.

Anyway, just go read it.