Pete from NW London captures it perfectly and even by posting a comment about it here we are adding to the erosion of that we wish to preserve.

Just because someone can speak doesn't bestow on them the moniker of 'wordsmith'.

Jonas McAuley, London,

In the picture of Lily Allen on Wednesday 16th April, she was wearing a fab pair of pink sunglasses. Does anyone know where she got them from?
Comments back would really be apreciated :)

DLJ, Cambs, East

It's as if at a certain stage in a process of social decay, a point is reached where so much about absurd reality is beyond satire.

Pete, NW London,

Casper, I'm sure even Lily would be able to spell 'today' correctly.

Ledwith, Edinburgh,

After the year Lilly Allen has had, I think the last thing on her mind is being an Orange Prize judge.

She has also already pulled out of a summer music festival - her main area of work - because of other commitments (mainly her new album). It shouldn't be a surprise that she feels unable to devote the time to judging a large number of books. In fact, credit to her for pulling out, when the easier course of action would have been to do the job half heartedly and blag it for some spurious intellectual credibility.

But why all the fuss about the Orange Prize anyway? How many of these books will be remembered by anyone in a year's time? How many recent Booker prize winners can most people name?

Roy Pinney, Weston Super Mare,

Mary, Marseille, I have 3 issues:
1. Losing a chid, sad as it so obviously is, does not mean one cannot criticise this talentless daughter-of-somebody for aspects that have nothing to do with her pregnancy. She is 100% fake, purporting to be some discovery made on the internet from a hard up council estate, when she was brought up by rich parents, went to Bedales, and her record company arranged the whole internet thing as a marketing campaign.

2. Drawing attention to a prize on the basis of idiocy and ignorance is NOT to be applauded. Her inclusion would have no effect on "getting kids interested in books".

3. What makes you think this brain-empty woman (have you actually heard her trying to conduct a conversation on that appalling chat show of hers?) could appreciate "a broad spectrum of styles and themes"?

She is a talentless, ignorant, dreadful fraud.

Laura Roberts, London, UK

Er, writing a three minute repetitive song is a little different to writing a 300 page landscape of characters and themes.

Authors who spend years crafting lengthy and complex stories should not have to be judged by a young woman with no novel or fiction writing background.

Everyone has his or her opinion, true, but would you have anyone and everyone judging a serious literary competition?

I mean, would a car mechanic judge an F1 competition?

Will Axe, london, uk

I see 3 issues here :
1. It truly disgusts me that people want to knock a young girl that has suffered so badly in recent times.
2. So maybe she was selected as a token "young people's icon", so what ? If it draws attention to the prize and encourages kids to take more of an interest in books then the decision to include her on the panel should have been applauded.
3. It would seem to me that a judge should generally be capable of appreciating a broad spectrum of styles and themes, as such the narrow-minded people that shun Lily Allen would obviously make very poor judges themselves.

Mary, Marseille,

I don't think that I have ever heard a lily Allen song, but I have seen her on a television chat show, and she was intelligent, articulate, and entertaining.

Obviously these are not appropriate qualities for the quango that selects Orange judges.

J Laflin, Bicknoller,

I was amused by this story untill I noticed that the prize is awarded in part, on originality and accessibility. This is no disqulification of the ladies invitation to judge, for her song writing and sucess indicates a fair grasp of both. Why take this so seriously ?
Their prize,their rules.

robert everitt, wolverhampton,

I'm not sure that writing trite little pop songs qualifies her as a "wordsmith". Or maybe in toady's dumbed down Britain it does!

Casper Slides, London,