ffs, amanda craig novellist dropped from mslexia

[Helmetbymidnight]

according to nick cohen on twitter, amanda craig novellist has been dropped as a judge from mslexia because she signed the jkr letter - a womens writing magazine! - absolutely shocking. and frightening.

I googled Hannah Leach. Apparently she is a Doctor of Accents, notably that of Stoke-on-Trent. She's at my alma mater now, Newcastle University.

On her Bio page she says she watches Pointless. That one with, you know, Alexander Armstrong, who signed that letter.

www.hannahleach.co.uk/?page_id=81

A doctor of accents... what like “how ya doin’ hen”? Or “ho missus, yur tawkin’ pure shite by the way!”?

My message to Dr Leach (in my cockney accent) is "You're aving a giraffe"

“Aye is that right then, hen?” (Glasgow - said with head tilted, arms crossed and with a slight sneer). I wonder if body language and tone is part of the whole doctoring thing...

Actually I’ve never heard of this as a topic. I had to take a class in linguistics for my degree (still traumatised).

I went through a phase of reading about linguistics until Steven Pinker developed something of an 'unusual perspective', and I couldn't muster up much further enthusiasm for the subject.

Also linguists bang on about language and prejudice while contorting over the one word 'woman'. Charlatans.

Apparently she is a Doctor of Accents

Anyone else just get a flashback to that episode of Friends when Monica's mum asks her if the doctor she's seeing is a real doctor and she replies:

www.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/082e5647-3b9c-4793-a908-2b68c6bece78

Tbf, my PhD isn't in something you'd immediately you say anything genuinely enthusiastic about. The usual response is, 'Oh.'

I can't write, either.

@Random789

I'm a bit gutted by this, as I had submitted a story to the short story competition that Craig was to judge. I wrote to Mslexia yesterday and requested that my entry be withdrawn. And I tried to explain my reasons. But there is a horrible, awful sadness in trying to make that explanation, because no matter how respectfully and gently you write, there is always this horrible fear that your words will just somehow be filtered out or magicked into some sort of alleged bigotry. If they couldn't hear that letter signed by Craig on its own terms, if they couldn't see how far it was from any shred of transhobia, how can they hear my words? How can they hear any words at all on the terms on which the words are uttered? How completely devastating that an organisation like Mslexia, dedicated to words, is deafening itself. How completely devasating that an organisation like Mslexia, dedicated to women, is silencing them. I really feel the loss of the competition, not becasue I had a reaslistic chance of winning but because it is just such a nice, cheering thing to participate in competitions of this sort. Or at least it should be.

But I'm glad I withdrew. At first it felt like withdrawing was simply to avoid endorsing and financing something that has gone so badly astray. But the more I think of it, the more I feel that the competition, and the judging process, is actually completely flawed by the attitudes of the remaining judge and the senior staff at Mslexia who supported her. I absolutely don't want to join in or support any kind of piling in on her, but how can someone who so determinedly misreads people's motivations and the significance, the meaning, of their words be entrusted with assessing anyone's stories? It's a nonsense. And such a sad, sad, state of affairs.

I know how you feel Random,. I have cancelled a submission to one of this year's competitions for the same reason but didn't give reasons as I am so wary of my name getting on some list, especially as it sounds like someone in the company is already attacking women with slurs on Twitter - not the most professional look for a publishing house.

We aren't all as untouchable as JKR, and even she might be fine financially but this must wear her down.

It's depressing, I have read and subscribed to Mslexia since maybe 2006? But no longer feel they are doing what they claim to, which is support women writers. What a betrayal.

JKR's publishing house came up against similar problems, smelled bullshit and told the disgruntled people to leave. It's a shame Mslexia didn't show such backbone, but instead caved to a loud, manipulative few and not their many loyal subscribers.

@notyourhandmaid

Mslexia have released a statement: Mslexia have released a statement: twitter.com/Mslexia/status/1311252031764606976

"...if a Mslexia judge expresses views that threaten to undermine Mslexia's climate of welcome and inclusivity, we will always ask her to step down from that role."

Quite nasty.

David Baddiel:

twitter.com/Baddiel/status/1311274245197049856?s=20

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

"Hi
@Mslexia
‘identify as’ is dated and wrong because it’s invalidating and implies it’s a choice rather than a state of being. Please re-write and repost."

twitter.com/dianasaladpot/status/1311260929896730625?s=20

good ol Baddiel

HA 😂😂 Mslexia being eaten. Thanks @SunsetBeetch

and good post by Baddiel

Aarrgghhh just saw that Audrey Niffennegger tweeted in support of Mslexia. I shouldn't ever look at twitter. It is full of disappointment.

Post today 💪

Watching Amanda Craig continue to champion KMH's new book and denounce bullying while the latter has accused her of sharing her name with others and been quite bitchy to her... well, it's quite something.

The Rival Letter has been updated with plenty of other names now. Very heavy on the children's publishing side, so we can expect many (more) super-woke books out over the next while.

@EvenSupposing

I just feel like Attwood's nearly there in her writing. I think maybe it's her characters? They aren't real enough. And I sort of liked OANTOF but...nah, again, not quite.

Dr Leach has sort of let the cat out of the bag with that tweet hasn't they? Like, isn't that the evil end game we all knew they had in mind but they kept laughing through their beards and clutch bags and saying 'That'll never happen!' And now Hannah has tweeted it. Possibly by accident while trying to type the thorn phoneme. Oops...

I find Atwood's characters empty. Like they have no soul. In a short story it's not too bad, but when it's a whole novel I find myself wishing they'd just get hit by a car. Or that I would.

I'm a bit gutted by this, as I had submitted a story to the short story competition that Craig was to judge

Ah @Random789, it's so sad. I too feel the loss of those Mslexia competitions. It's hard to know that the door to a possible showcase for one's work has closed.

I hope when KMH looks back at this in a few years, she cringed herself inside out with embarrassment at her treatment of a fellow author who has done nothing but campaign against bullying & remain gracious to those who disagree with her

I was only thinking yesterday about re-subscribing to Mslexia.

They can fuck off.

Annoyingly, Mslexia is one of only three publications that I’ve ever had anything published in.

It used to be the one I was proudest of.

So that’s that knackered.

Her book looks gorgeous and sounds intriguing I have added it to my Christmas list

Goosefoot

Someone should resurrect Spare Rib.

Which is, I've just discovered, digitised by the British Library.

www.bl.uk/spare-rib