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How trans activists in publishing hijacked a children's book competition to pursue a personal vendetta

212 replies

PurgatoryOfPotholes · 25/02/2022 04:51

The Phoenix Book Award is an initiative to encourage reading amongst children of the borough of Lambeth, London, launched in 2007. Back in 2017, it described itself as This exciting South London based Book Prize targets Year 5, 6, 7 and 8 pupils in Lambeth, encouraging them to read through the transition years. Phoenix is a unique book prize as students are involved in every stage of the award; from picking the shortlist, to shadowing the award and then finally voting for their favourite. It is open to all schools in the Lambeth area.

This year it's "judged by children from Years 6, 7 & 8 in Lambeth."

Children at participating schools read the books from a long-list (a very long list: as many as 32 books!) over a period of months, and whittle it down to from there. It sounds like an absolutely amazing concept for generating enthusiasm about reading.

Let's hear from the adults who do the paperwork for it:
After a break due to the pandemic we are delighted to announce that the Lambeth #PhoenixBookAward is returning for 2022!

This year, children were asked to nominate books that helped them get through lockdown. The result is a fantastic, diverse, and hugely competetive shortlist.

twitter.com/LambethPhoenix/status/1496789801718059011?s=20&t=F1f0NO5YFo712FQS40-3-w

Sounds lovely, right?

Yesterday, the twitter account for the prize posted the shortlist:

Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen
When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf

twitter.com/LambethPhoenix/status/1496791630476722184?s=20&t=aQmwjEpxiId-FatE21miAw

(Now another round of voting begins, and we'll know the winner on the 12th May 2022!)

This was accompanied by a little graphic showing the shortlist.

And that's where this wonderful heartwarming story of children enjoying reading went wrong.

One author's publishing agent took issue with the children of Lambeth having shortlisted another author with whom she disagreed, and decided to falsify that graphic to remove any record that Onjali Raúf and her book The Boy at the Back of the Class had been shortlisted by the children of Lambeth. Then she tweeted her false version from the business twitter of the literary agency she runs, for other people to unknowingly circulate.

You're probably wondering how we can know this. Well, we know, because she boasted about doing exactly that from her personal twitter account.

Transcript for those using a screenreader

Tweet 1 from Agent: Am I petty enough and procrastinating enough to amend a shortlist image to take out the shortlisted terf. Probably.

Tweet 2 from Agent: Turns out I am.

If you go here, you can read the incredible thread from Gillian Philip explaining this mess in more detail. Gillian's the one who explained events in the first place.

twitter.com/Gillian_Philip/status/1496907435830919172?s=20&t=aQmwjEpxiId-FatE21miAw

If you are struggling to view twitter threads without an account, go here. Graham Linehan has made a version of the thread that you can scroll through without a twitter account.
grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/there-will-always-be-women-who-hate?utm_source=url

Here are some other things you should know: Onjali Raúf founded an organisation that campaigns to end modern slavery and trafficking. makingherstory.org.uk/contact/

She also founded O's Refugee Aid Team which supports refugees in Calais; in fact, 50% of the royalties from that shortlisted book, The Boy at the Back of the Class go to their projects to support refugees! Yep, this is the same book that agent is trying to suppress positive publicity for.

www.osrefugeeaidteam.org/

This is a thread of some of the books Onjali Raúf has published: twitter.com/Dora_Callisto/status/1496988662806032386?s=20&t=aQmwjEpxiId-FatE21miAw which is where I found out that children are involved in the awards process.

At this point, I can only echo Dora's thread and ask, how do you think you'd feel if you were a child who'd nominated The Boy at the Back of the Class as one of the "books that helped [you] get through lockdown"? How would you feel to find out that another shortlisted nominee's agent had edited your nomination out?

It's despicable behaviour.

How trans activists in publishing hijacked a children's book competition to pursue a personal vendetta
How trans activists in publishing hijacked a children's book competition to pursue a personal vendetta
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CarbonelCat · 25/02/2022 12:57

"LilithOfEden

SwissBall

Yeah I couldn’t really get into Goodnight Mister Tom because all I could think about was their white privilege.

I felt the same reading Judith Kerr's When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. She needed to check her white privilege big time.

(Obviously joking. It's a brilliant book series, based on JK's own escape from Nazi Germany as a child, for anyone looking for recommendations"

Yeah, Carrie's War did nothing for me. They were all white and therefore "over done." Hmm

I am so depressed by all this. Onjali Raouf's books are amazing and my dc have read them all. I found The Star Outside My Window utterly heartbreaking - I sobbed all the way through. The depiction of domestic abuse and the characters' responses was so multilayered and nuanced, and left one with the real sense that the author really understood the issues in a very significant way. To dismiss her is disgusting

bishophaha · 25/02/2022 12:56

@MoonOnASpoon

I think you've misunderstood. I read it as they're saying that a story from any of those perspectives would be accepted over a story from the perspective of a white, middle-class child

It literally says "we are not interested in stories about white able bodied WW2 evacuees but would welcome that story from a disabled, LGBTQ+ or BIPOC perspective."*

However, you could be white, able-bodied AND gay/Q surely? So it makes no sense in its rush to dissociate the white, middle-class agent from the horror of white, middle-class, able-bodied dreadfulness and privilege.

It’s shot the book straight up the charts!

:o brilliant. Hope that reassures Onjali too.

Yes, that was what i meant - that being white doesn't preclude you from being a lesbian, so why have they ruled sexuality into the rest of it? Or are they just a bit stupid and inconsiderate...?
DomesticatedZombie · 25/02/2022 12:38

Her author really ought to know better. She is a middle-aged woman who has only recently been published for the first time. It must have been a huge struggle to get that chance, given that she has none of the privilege that we are talking about in this thread, but that doesn't mean she has to laugh along with the bullies for fear of being cast out herself.

No, but I'm willing to cut her a bit of slack as she maybe didn't quite grasp how unprofessional, shitty and pathetic her agent was being. It's possible she considers her agent an example of how to comport yourself as a professional in publishing, which is unfortunate, but I expect she'll learn.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 25/02/2022 12:30

Exactly the right age. My DC's teacher read this to the class in year 5.

Brilliant, thank you!

pollyhemlock · 25/02/2022 12:29

I can also highly recommend The Night Bus Hero, where Onjali Q Rauf deals with issues like homelessness ( why might someone become homeless?) , bereavement and empathy in a way that is never preachy or sentimental. She is such an interesting writer. I find the bewildering stupidity of Alice’s comments almost unbelievable.

RufustheFloralmissingreindeer · 25/02/2022 12:16

@IcakethereforeIam

Just bought The boy at the back of the class from Amazon, some of the one star reviews (of which there are relatively few) are hair-raising. Which reminds me, the blue-rinse has been on a bit of a roller coaster lately!
I like the one who is a bit annoyed that the characters mother doesnt buy her a birthday present

I mean she loves them and all that but without a birthday present is it really love 😩

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 25/02/2022 12:12

@Wanderingowl

Ok, so outside of the politics angle. This is out and out cheating in a competition. Someone representing one competitor, with the knowledge of that competitor, set out to falsify documentation to make it appear as if one competitor wasn't in the competition.
Not really. The children of Lambeth vote for the shortlisted authors and with luck they are not on Twitter so won't be aware of any of this nonsense.

What the young ninny-headed agent and her author have done is publicise the author's success in getting shortlisted, which is fair enough, but instead of either only mentioning her (which would have been fine), or giving the whole shortlist, they have deliberately and pointedly edited the shortlist so that only Onjali Rauf is not shown. The agent explicitly described her as a t* to justify this.

Her author really ought to know better. She is a middle-aged woman who has only recently been published for the first time. It must have been a huge struggle to get that chance, given that she has none of the privilege that we are talking about in this thread, but that doesn't mean she has to laugh along with the bullies for fear of being cast out herself.

Tiphaine · 25/02/2022 12:10

I started buying Rauf's books for my children after seeing a previous MRA pile on. They really hate women who don't bow down.

They've both loved them and I would highly recommend her.

IcakethereforeIam · 25/02/2022 12:08

Just bought The boy at the back of the class from Amazon, some of the one star reviews (of which there are relatively few) are hair-raising. Which reminds me, the blue-rinse has been on a bit of a roller coaster lately!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 25/02/2022 12:07

@SwissBall

Yeah I couldn’t really get into Goodnight Mister Tom because all I could think about was their white privilege.
Grin

Knocks quite a number of classics on the head, doesn't it. Jane Eyre had a very abusive childhood, but who cares, she was white and didn't have a disability.

Oliver Twist - horrific childhood, orphaned, forced into criminality, but none of this counts because he too was white and able-bodied. See also: David Copperfield, Little Dorrit and most of the rest of Dickens.

It's writing by numbers, isn't it.

McScreamysGhostPants · 25/02/2022 12:07

I've ordered the book for my nephew. Going to order him the others by the same author, one a week and out them away for Christmas.

I honestly had to read this twice and then ask my Oh to read it. I didn't think I could be reading it right.... what sort of arse hole does this?!

Wanderingowl · 25/02/2022 12:04

Ok, so outside of the politics angle. This is out and out cheating in a competition. Someone representing one competitor, with the knowledge of that competitor, set out to falsify documentation to make it appear as if one competitor wasn't in the competition.

LilithOfEden · 25/02/2022 12:01

@SwissBall

Yeah I couldn’t really get into Goodnight Mister Tom because all I could think about was their white privilege.
I felt the same reading Judith Kerr's When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. She needed to check her white privilege big time.

(Obviously joking. It's a brilliant book series, based on JK's own escape from Nazi Germany as a child, for anyone looking for recommendations)

AuxArmesCitoyens · 25/02/2022 12:00

Random musing: the real generation gap is people who were brought up before the fall of the USSR and those who came after and have no clue about Marxist class analysis.

Clymene · 25/02/2022 12:00

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I see that BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous or People of Colo(u)r. I can see how this works in North America, but who are the indigenous people of the UK?
Well Alice is clearly a bit dim all round really. As well as being a thoroughly nasty piece of work
MoonOnASpoon · 25/02/2022 11:59

I think you've misunderstood. I read it as they're saying that a story from any of those perspectives would be accepted over a story from the perspective of a white, middle-class child

It literally says "we are not interested in stories about white able bodied WW2 evacuees but would welcome that story from a disabled, LGBTQ+ or BIPOC perspective."*

However, you could be white, able-bodied AND gay/Q surely? So it makes no sense in its rush to dissociate the white, middle-class agent from the horror of white, middle-class, able-bodied dreadfulness and privilege.

It’s shot the book straight up the charts!

:o brilliant. Hope that reassures Onjali too.

Cheermonger · 25/02/2022 11:58

Just bought 4 copies for my family and friends kids

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 25/02/2022 11:56

I see that BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous or People of Colo(u)r. I can see how this works in North America, but who are the indigenous people of the UK?

LilithOfEden · 25/02/2022 11:55

@Ereshkigalangcleg

Which age group is the book for? I have two children in mind to buy hard copies for, one eight, one nine.
Exactly the right age. My DC's teacher read this to the class in year 5.
Ereshkigalangcleg · 25/02/2022 11:48

Which age group is the book for? I have two children in mind to buy hard copies for, one eight, one nine.

LilithOfEden · 25/02/2022 11:48

Jews only count to TRAs when they are trying to find some spurious connection between an author and anti semitism. Eg, Harry Potter goblins and smearing Helen Joyce (to the point where David Baddiel was being called anti Semitic for supporting Joyce).

www.womenarehuman.com/trans-activists-smear-author-of-trans-when-ideology-meets-reality/

SwissBall · 25/02/2022 11:47

Yeah I couldn’t really get into Goodnight Mister Tom because all I could think about was their white privilege.

DameHelena · 25/02/2022 11:46

JellySaurus, no, I think you misunderstand. They say they're not interested if the protagonists are white and able-bodied, which sounds pretty categorical and not the same as just saying that they'd rather have those stories from a disabled, LGBTQ+ or BIPOC perspective.

They don't say anything about class, either. You introduce that.

I very much take your point about Jewish, white, middle-class evacuees, though.

ScreamingMeMe · 25/02/2022 11:44

Excellent post Lillith

I've also bought the book in solidarity.

spacehardware · 25/02/2022 11:36

"I wonder whether those publishers would find the stories of Jewish, white, middle-class evacuees acceptable, with their experiences of racism and anti-Semitism (or well-meaning, confused ignorance)? Or would that be the wrong sort of diversity?"

ha ha #jewsdontcount