#NoDebate
About the SoA
The SoA is the UK trade union for all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators, at all stages of their careers. We have been advising individuals and speaking out for the profession for more than a century.
Members receive unlimited free advice on all aspects of the profession, including confidential clause-by-clause contract vetting, and a wide range of exclusive offers.
We campaign and lobby on the issues that affect authors and hold a wide range of events across the UK. Find out more about membership.
The SoA also administers grants and prizes to support and celebrate authors at all stages of their careers.
We administer a number of literary estates, the income from which helps towards all our work….
TIM TATE
Author, Film-maker & Investigative Journalist
A Society of Authors official has quit after claiming the union is undermining the complaints of gender-critical writers.
Tim Tate sat on the management committee of the UK’s largest writers’ union, which has been divided by a row over gender ideology, and he was tasked with investigating complaints made about the organisation’s leadership.
Mr Tate has now resigned after claiming his work processing complaints against Society chair Joanne Harris and chief executive Nicola Soloman was “impeded by attempts to undermine its impartiality and integrity”.
The resignation comes amid a deepening row at the writers’ union, whose leadership has faced an internal revolt after being accused of not defending the free speech of gender-critical members, including by Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
Mr Tate said of his attempt to deal with official complaints made by members: “The formal investigation into complaints lodged against Joanne Harris, Nicola Soloman and the SoA (Society of Authors) seems to have been impeded by attempts to undermine its impartiality and integrity.”…
STATEMENT ON RESIGNATION FROM THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Posted on November 18, 2022
I have today resigned from the Management Committee of the Society of Authors.
The Society of Authors has recently been under an intense spotlight over allegations about Twitter posts by Joanne Harris. On Thursday, November 17, members overwhelmingly rejected a motion at the AGM, calling on Joanne to step down from her role as Chair of the Management Committee.
I can only speak of my experience in Management Committee meetings in the past year, but in these I have always found Joanne a courteous and professional Chair. Likewise, I have always found the Society’s CEO, Nicola Solomon, assiduously attentive to the issues which the Management Committee tried to address. I do not know either well enough to be called a friend, but our discussions have always been collegiate and respectful.
Unfortunately, my recent experience of the Management Committee itself has been rather less congenial….
Writers’ union backs Joanne Harris after furore over JK Rowling death threat
Mike Wade – November 18 2022 – The Times
The bestselling author of the novel Chocolat has triumphed following an attempt to remove her from her influential post within the writers’ union after she was accused of trivialising a death threat against JK Rowling.
Joanne Harris said “rationality had prevailed” after a resolution to remove her as chairwoman of the Society of Authors’ management committee was defeated by 618 to 143, giving her an overwhelming 81 per cent of the ballot.
The resolution was put down by ten authors including Julie Bindel and Amanda Craig. It called for the society to establish a sub-committee to review its approach to protecting free speech, and to ensure “the impartiality expected of the society, including all who govern and work for it” was upheld….
rachel rooney
onjali rauf
COMPARE TONE & DETAIL
JK Rowling: Harry Potter author’s argument with Joanne Harris over trans views explained
Isobel Lewis – 19 August 2022 – The Independent
…
The saga began last weekend, following the attack on British-Indian author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed on stage in New York on Friday (12 August). Rowling was among the authors to offer support for Rushdie, saying she was sickened by the attack.
The following day, Harris shared a multiple-choice poll to Twitter asking authors if they had every received a death threat, “credible or otherwise”. The options for response included: “Yes”, “hell, yes” and “no, never”.
The fourth option was, “Show me, dammit,” a comment that Twitter users often add for people who don’t want to vote but want to see the results. Harris deleted the original post before posting it again without the word “credible”….
Joanne Harris dismisses row with JK Rowling as ‘fabricated’ amid calls for Chocolat novelist to be axed as Society of Authors chair after she was accused of mocking death threats with ‘tasteless’ Twitter poll in wake of Rushdie stabbing
Tom Scotson – 17 August 2022 – MailOnline
Chocolat novelist Joanne Harris has dismissed her row with JK Rowling as ‘fabricated’ as she faces growing calls to be removed from her role as Chair of the Society of Authors after she was accused of mocking death threats to writers in the wake of the brutal attack on Salman Rushdie.
Around 50 British authors signed an open letter calling for her resignation from the industry body as a bitter war of words between Rowling and Harris boiled over after Indian-born Sir Salman was stabbed multiple times by an suspected Iran sympathiser in upstate New York.
Rowling, 57, had tweeted her support for Rushdie when she received a vile death threat from an Islamist extremist who warned: ‘Don’t worry, you are next’. Harris, 58, then posted a Twitter poll asking ‘Fellow-authors… have you ever received a death threat (credible or otherwise).’…
Pullman lambasts Society of Authors as ‘vehicle for gesture politics’ after Clanchy row
David Sanderson – Monday September 26 2022 – The Times
Philip Pullman has accused the Society of Authors of being a “vehicle for gesture politics” after resigning as president earlier this year over a cancel culture row.
Pullman quit after being criticised over his comments supporting Kate Clanchy, the writer whose book was cancelled by her publisher.
Clanchy had been accused of using stereotypical or derogatory descriptions of children in classes she taught in her memoir, Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me, which won the Orwell Prize for political writing in 2020.
Her publisher, Picador, withdrew its backing for the book, which has since been reissued in a revised form by Swift Press.
Clanchy said that Joanne Harris, her fellow author and the chairwoman of the society’s management committee, told her to apologise for the memoir. Clanchy did apologise for any offence caused…
GILLIAN PHILIP – #NoDebate
THE GENDER COLLECTION
KATE CLANCHY #NoDebate
THE GENDER COLLECTION
SoA response to inaccuracies in Private Eye article (Issue 1557)
29 September 2021 – Society of Authors
The Books & Bookmen article in this week’s Private Eye has a number of factual inaccuracies and unsubstantiated and defamatory inferences.
Firstly, Joanne Harris’ assertion that the article in Issue 1556, (which claimed that Philip Pullman was “sentenced to undergo urgent re-education”) is “rubbish” is absolutely correct.
The columnist repeats their incorrect claim in Issue 1557, saying that the Society of Authors (SoA) and its Management Committee on 9 September “ordered” that Philip Pullman take part in unconscious bias training. In fact, the training had been booked for months. Philip was invited to join it, along with all SoA staff, directors and group committee members. As the SoA works towards becoming a more inclusive and reflective organisation this training is an important part of that process. The training, attended by more than 40 people actually took place on 9 September, the day that Private Eye says the “order” was made….