Society of Authors – Joanne Harris
J K Rowling & Society of Authors
Interactions with the Society of Authors and the chair, Joanne Harris = compiled by THE GENDER COLLECTION
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….
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JK Rowling: Harry Potter author’s argument with Joanne Harris over trans views explained
Isobel Lewis – 19 August 2022 – The Independent
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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).’…
Publishing needs JK Rowling to be a monster
The facts are irrelevant
Victoria Smith – 6 September 2022 – The Critic
he trouble with JK Rowling is that she has done nothing wrong. Back in 2020, she wrote a carefully worded, compassionate piece about sex and gender. It’s here if you want to read it.
In it, she described “a climate of fear that serves nobody – least of all trans youth – well”. At no point did she express the even mildest disapproval of gender non-conformity, let alone call for “trans genocide”. “Trans people,” she wrote, “need and deserve protection […] I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men.”
The response to this piece was obscene. Some of it’s here if you want to read it. I am aware, however, that checking original source material is not the done thing when it comes to having an opinion on Rowling.
Shortly after the publication of her blogpost, countless op-eds appeared explaining what Rowling “really” meant. To summarise them all, Rowling was lying about not hating trans people and wanting them dead, and you could tell this by the fact she said she didn’t hate trans people and didn’t want them dead.
There then followed a succession of lengthy, meandering (and deadly boring) essays on what it meant to be a Harry Potter fan now that Potter’s creator turned out to be evil. Idiotic references to the Sorting Hat, which confused maintaining a strong sense of self regardless of external forces with getting to choose one’s biological sex, seemed to be de rigueur.
As for the rape and death threats, it was quickly established that taking issue with tweets such as “JK rowling suck my fat cock and choke on it” was transphobic. Indeed, when one group of literary figures signed an open letter condemning such messages, the response of over 200 writers, publishers and journalists was to sign a different one stating “trans rights are human rights”…
