SOME of the most revered names in literature, including Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, face possible removal from the official pantheon of great writers in a modernisation of English in the national curriculum.

In their place, children may be required to study a greater range of modern writers and those who reflect the ethnically diverse nature of modern Britain such as the prize-winning black author Andrea Levy.

Other potential candidates for the new list include fantasy writers Tolkien and Philip Pullman, who many believe more closely reflect the reading tastes of children than the current list.

Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, will be present this Wednesday when the government’s Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) launches a consultation on reform of the English curriculum.

He will be accompanied by Andrew Motion, the poet laureate, and Lord Bragg, the writer and broadcaster.

Critics are likely to attack any attempt to cut writers seen as part of the canon of literature, but others believe the system leaves little room for teachers to choose books reflecting their pupils’ tastes and ability.

Some believe the list should be abolished altogether with the possible exception of Shakespeare. A more widespread view is that the list should be modernised and the number of authors cut, enabling books to be studied in greater depth.

“There’s too much prescription of what to read,” said Pullman. “The government doesn’t seem to trust teachers. I’m also annoyed that chunks of books are now studied too much and not the whole book itself.”

Bragg agreed. “I’m not really one for lists of authors though I would argue that Shakespeare must be on,” he said. “What’s more important is that youngsters are encouraged to read as many good books as possible. That might help to encourage reading for life and not just the schoolroom.”

The current English curriculum was introduced by Baroness Thatcher’s government in 1989, although it was modified in the mid-1990s.

Currently one Shakespeare play must be studied by 11 to 14-year-olds, and one more by those on their two-year GCSE course. Other plays must be studied from a list of 10 playwrights. They range from William Congreve, who wrote in the 17th and 18th centuries, to 19th and 20th-century authors such as Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and JB Priestley.

Four out of 28 listed pre- 1914 poets and two out of 19 novelists from before that year must be studied. From the years after 1914, four out of a list of 16 poets and two out of 11 novelists must be studied.

Together, these lists constitute the officially approved roster of great writers in English literature. The novelists range from Defoe, Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters to Charles Dickens, Jonathan Swift, Graham Greene and George Orwell.

According to sources close to the review, the poets’ list could be vulnerable, particularly names such as Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Elizabethan love poet, Keith Douglas, who wrote of his experiences fighting in the second world war, and Gillian Clarke, the contemporary Welsh poet.

Some question whether John Milton, a difficult poet to read, should remain on the list. His fellow 17th-century poets Robert Herrick and Henry Vaughan may be candidates for removal. Congreve could also go.

Any move to “cull” pre-20th century authors is likely to be opposed by Motion. In an interview yesterday he said he wanted the curriculum to “find ways of preserving the past” and children should be introduced to the Bible and other key works. “It would seem to me to be a deep crime to never come across things such as (Milton’s) Paradise Lost,” he said.

New names being mooted, in addition to children’s authors such as Pullman, Tolkien and Mervyn Peake — whom many teachers believe have been excluded because of “snobbery” — could include Kazuo Ishiguro, author of The Remains of the Day, and Ian McEwan, the Booker prizewinning novelist.

“Some form of prescription is needed, but there is currently far too much,” said Gary Snapper of the National Association of Teachers in English. “English teachers object too to the division of the literary world into pre-1914 and post 1914.”

The QCA consultation will also consider grammar, punctuation and phonics — which recent studies have shown can help youngsters learn to read and spell quicker than more conventional methods. Another subject that will be assessed is how technology such as e-mails, computer spellcheckers and text-messaging should affect the teaching of English.

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