An Open Letter to the Society of Authors re Joanne Harris
Description
First published on this substack August 16th, 2022
Harris, in the middle of two other wazzocks
Dear Ms Solomon,
In the light of the shocking attack on Sir Salman Rushdie, we, the undersigned writers and industry professionals, wish to express our deep disquiet and anger at the Society of Authors’ abject failure to speak out on violent threats towards its members, and the behaviour of Joanne Harris, the Chair of your Board of Management, on Twitter. We welcome the recent statement of 15 August but in many ways it is too little, too late.
Less than twenty-four hours after the stabbing in New York State, Joanne Harris published a Twitter poll asking if fellow authors had ‘ever received a death threat (credible or otherwise)’. The four possible answers – ‘Yes’, ‘Hell, yes’, ‘No, never’ and ‘Show me, dammit’ – appeared to make light of the subject by treating it in a flippant way.
To many people involved in the Twitter debate, this appeared to be a sideswipe at JK Rowling, who had earlier that day received two more public death threats after tweeting her horror at what had happened to Sir Salman. This had turned into a polarised argument between supporters and detractors of Rowling, with many of the latter loudly complaining that the focus of discussion had shifted from Rushdie’s troubles to Rowling’s. To make matters worse, the poll also appeared to make light of the attack on Sir Salman Rushdie, even if not intended to do so.
Rowling is not the only author to have received death threats because of perceived wrong-think: Gillian Philip, Rachel Rooney, Kate Clanchy, Julie Bindel and Onjali Rauf among many others have also received them. Joanne Harris has given every indication of siding with those women’s critics. Again, the Society of Authors has failed to come to their defence.
Perhaps realising she had gone too far on this occasion, Joanne Harris deleted her Twitter poll, citing tonal problems. But rather than admit any culpability, she then tweeted a different, less light-hearted version of the poll, claiming she was simply trying to gather information.
Joanne Harris has since stated on Twitter, when asked to justify the Society’s conspicuous silence over the years at the unprecedented volume of violent threats towards JK Rowling, that, ‘When threats occur on a daily basis to many individuals, to single out one person for special mention isn’t helpful or democratic.’ In our opinion, to do so would be more than helpful. It would send a message to all authors that you, as our Society, stand in solidarity with us. By naming JK Rowling personally when asked many times before, you would have sent assurance that you stand for all authors regardless of their beliefs.
Over the last few years, it has been clear to many of us that the Society of Authors has been captured by gender ideologues who brook no debate and who are not prepared to support authors who fall foul of online bullies. Aside from the basic decency at stake, the recent rulings in the Forstater and Bailey cases make this stance no longer tenable and could potentially lead the Society into legal jeopardy.
It is now time for the Society of Authors to live according to its principle, clearly stated in the Where We Stand section of its website, of ‘protecting free speech’ and opposing ‘in the strongest terms any attempt to stifle or control the author’s voice whether by censorship, imprisonment, execution, hate speech or trolling’. It should go without saying that this opposition should not be contingent on individual members of the Board of Management’s political agreement with the person under attack, and for this reason we believe Joanne Harris’s position as Chair of the Management Committee is untenable.
You are our representatives. If, as your Chair has been quoted as saying, ‘The Society of Authors is there to defend authors’ contractual rights,’ then either reduce your remit to that alone, or start living up to your Where We Stand ethos.
Please note that we have included authors and professionals who are not or who are no longer members of the Society of Authors as signatories because the Society’s campaigns and lobbying do have an effect on authors in general. A small number of those who have signed this letter have felt the need to remain anonymous because they are concerned about the impact on their careers if they speak out publicly.
We are primarily looking for writers of any kind, screenwriters, playwrights and those who work in the publishing industry in any capacity, but we have created a separate section for people who don't work in the industry to add their names.
If you would like to add your name to this letter, please email us at: xxyywarrior@yahoo.com
Julia Williams
Simon Edge
Jane Harris
Julie Bindel
John Boyne
Anne Fine FRSL OBE
Amanda Craig
Prof David Wootton
Rachel Rooney
Gillian Philip
Carolyn Robertson
Christina Dalcher
Crime Writer, England
RW Johnson
Paola Diana
Catherine Czerkawska
Irina Filatova
Magi Gibson
Helen Joyce
Mystery and Suspense Writer, England
Paula Byrne
Che Golden
Mills and Boon author, England
Thriller Writer, England
Rebecca Johnson
Elizabeth Buchan
Production Editor, London
Victoria Smith
Abigail Rowland
Michelle Styles
Victoria Whitworth
Laura Vaughan
Lissa Evans
Alex Marwood
Kate Long
Literary Translator, England
Carol Lovekin
Trezza Azzopardi
Literary Festival Director, England
Ian Macpherson
Historical fiction author, Ireland
Milli Hill
Stuart A. Paterson
Polly Tuckett
LitFest Director, England
David Smith
Heather Welford
Anne Summers
Joolz Denby
Stella O’Malley
Gareth Roberts
Kathleen Stock
Claudia Clare
Helen Dale
Joanna Williams
Lucy Lethbridge
Graham Linehan
Novelist and non-fiction author, England
Caitlin Davies
Mark Sherry
Playwright and author, SoA member, England
Anna Wharton
Peter Raynard
Laura Dodsworth
Ophelia Benson
Sibyl Ruth
Magda Lamb
Jan Newton
Saga Novelist, England
Steve Tasane
Dr Cornelis J Schilt
Rohase Piercy
Dr Gary Cox
Tim Lott
Eileen Gunn
Francis Wheen
MJ Fahy
James Heartfield
Claire L Heuchan
Neil Fulwood
Andrea Nobre
Kierney Scott
Dr Sarah Rutherford
John Graham-Davies
Myra MacDonald
Non-fiction author and former SoA member, England
Estelle Birdy
Simon Fanshawe
Rob Harkavy
Elizabeth Pickett
Crime fiction author, England
Sally Wainwright
Vivek Tandon
Liz Houchin
Children’s writer, England
Elizabeth Harley
Susan Boyd
Maggie Mellor
Alex Elliott
Cherry Austin
Floyd Toulet
Caroline Johnstone
Hayley Long
Luke Kuhns
Margaret McCartney
Margaret Graham
James Martin Charlton
Novelist, Canada
Ginny Dougary
Sheila Templeton
Meg Henderson
Neil Thin
Jon Pike
Dr Az Hakeem
Caryl J Hansson
William Mackesy
Rosemary Harris
Allen Grove
Rebecca Abrams
Novelist and academic, England
Mike Waring
Amanda Worf
Colin Wight, Professor Emeritus
Elaine Everest
Elizabeth Carola
James Christie
Marie Yates
Tammy Smith
Juliette Hughes
Prof Fiona A Kumari Campbell, FRSA
Dr John Simister
Gaye Chapman
Dr Angela Mansi
Michele Moore
Ian C. Court
Literary Novelist (Anon)
United States
