Polari prize nominees withdraw over inclusion of 'terf' John Boyne

John Boyne is the perfect example of the trans ally to terf pipeline.

Glad he embraced his inner terf eventually (he even came to Mumsnet to talk to us directly at one point, iirc!) and I hope he wins the prize (it’ll be a perfect transactivist shooting they/themselves in the foot moment and a sweet end to Boyne’s ‘radicalised by terves’ arc).

I am nearly finished it on audio book right now. It's great, and best of all its narrator is Richard E Grant. 😊

Any (terf) fans of John Boyne should read The Echo Chamber, it shines a light on the ridiculous nature of the trans movement.

If well-known men start speaking out and using words like 'McCarthy-era', will people who have been unable to hear women's squeaky little bat voices saying the same thing for the last decade suddenly notice what has happened?

I don't know if this has already been posted

Boy in the Striped Pyjamas author John Boyne cancelled by trans zealots https://share.google/UkKpJs14FVEDXWu2M link to archive of the Telegraph article

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/news/terf-author-tearing-publishing-apart/

The tras are going after Paul Burston who founded the prize. He's standing firm for the moment although sounds a bit wobbly for next year. I suspect the Arts Council is probably taking some stick. They seem to be pressuring the ones remaining on the list, if they drop out just leaving Boyne it'll prove...something. That tras create nothing, they just appropriate what others have made. If they can't do that they'll try to burn it down and salt the earth leaving nothing but wasteland and desolation.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the writers who remain on the lists,” says another author who is friends with both Boyne and Burston. “They’re nutters. It’s just a pile-on, and they just want to destroy everything. It’s terrifying. It’s like we are living in the McCarthy era.”

From the Telegraph article.

Tbf, whilst I respect Boyne for both his principled stand and his public apology, I find it very hard to stomach unequivocal praise for TBITSP. Anyone with any engagement with holocaust education should know how problematic it is. DOI: Jewish.

John Boyne is a wonderful author and his apology to Glinner made me cry. Someone who can admit they got something wrong is a rare thing.
His books are all brilliant, especially The Heart's Invisible Furries 😀
The Boy in striped pyjamas was an allegory that got taken up wrong by many and became something it really wasn't. This is very well handled in the sequel.

I've just bought Boyne's 'Furry'😁 book of Amazon. Thank you for the tip. It's at the end of a massive tbr though.

I just happened across this article

https://archive.ph/XDnsN

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/adam-szetela-interview-that-book-is-dangerous/

It's tangential to the subject of the thread. I wasn't sure if it belonged here or on the Edinburgh book thread. There's no mention of gender in the article and I'm curious about Adam's views on it. He refers 'cisgender' but in the context that could mean anything. If an author has written a tin earred or offensive stereotype of a character outside their direct experience, criticise them for that. Don't 'cancel' them for using their imagination and empathy for stepping outside their own bubble.

Thanks for the tip-off about the 99p Kindle offer, which I might not have found for myself because I'm not currently looking. Every book I've bought on a 99p Kindle offer has ended up being a gateway to the rest of the author's works.

I hope John Boyne sits tight and serene in the midst of all the rainbow rage.

How is something that would never have happened and tries to get the audience to sympathise with a Nazi extermination camp commander "excellent"?!

Does anyone have an accessible version of the Irish Independent article where he actually makes the pro-JKR comments? I can only find paywalled versions.

It is a rare gift to be able to write for children and adults. It is a gift he shares with JKR. No wonder his competitors are keen to cancel him.

Ah yes, that makes more sense!

I suspect there's a missing word there - maybe adults who want Rowling condemned, or cancelled.

I am not sure where you've been looking, because that is definitely not what I've observed in my corner of the world.

Tbf, from what I can gather the protesting writers are from the shortlist for the "first book" award, so are likely to be unknown ( and possibly to feel under more pressure to conform, although I'm not sure about that, is it harder to lose something you never had?) so it's not really surprising we've not heard of most of them. I'd be interested to know the age and sex split of those who've opted out and those who have, so far, held firm.

Really? Not in my experience. Most of the feminists I know have been pretty robust in their defence of Rowling and condemnation of Gaiman.

I’ve read 2 of his titles - one I really enjoyed “ The Hearst Invisible Furies” and one I didn’t rate as much “ House of Special Purpose” set in Russia during the Revolution. Much preferred the Irish domestic setting for the former. But like others I’ve never heard of the other writers other than Alan Hollinghurst.

Except it’s very selective. The same adults who want JK Rowling are very quiet on the subject of Neil Gaiman.

I wonder why that could be?

I disliked the whole premise behind Boy in the Striped Pyjamas because it softened and falsified the reality and horror of the history.

But I think he did that out of naivety not malice, he has tried to address it further, AND more importantly he has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to look and listen and read and learn and to change his mind on things (all sorts of thing), and to apologise when he thinks he was wrong in the past.

Those two qualities shouldn't be rare, but they are, and I have come to admire him greatly for them.

I hated The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but at least I've heard of Boyne. I've never heard of the rest.

I have a distinct dislike for the boy in the striped pyjamas. Putting a fictional German officer's child at the centre of someone else's all too real genocide felt really off key.

But all due respect to John, a spontaneous apology is a rare and wonderful thing. We should all be ready to change our minds when presented with new information or improved understanding.

More publicity for John, an amazing writer, & more chance he’ll win, yay!

Also another chance for onlookers to see this authoritarian, thought stopping ideology for what it is.

Gotta love John Boyne!

Judging from the title of her book, A Bookshop of One's Own, the Jane Cholmeley who is hanging in there is the woman who set up the iconic and ground-breaking women's bookshop in Islington, Silver Moon in... the 1980s? I'm not sure.

Bravo to the Remainers