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

[PurgatoryOfPotholes]

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.

The belief that if one believes oneself to be virtuous, then whatever one does, however immoral, cruel or wicked, must also be virtuous, is a well-known phenomenon in psychology That's how nazi and stasi Germany operated.

@bishophaha

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

I don't understand this at all. What has your skin colour and being able-bodied or not got to do with your sexuality?

No I don’t get it either

Brilliant post nitronine

As an author myself I can only imagine how this must affect Raif, not only in terms of reputation and sales (actually I hope it will boost those) but in the added personal stress and anxiety in what is already a murky, competitive, cliquey and stressful industry. It's grotesque and so unprofessional of this brat of an agent. Writers are tough though.

I have just ordered her book - glad I heard about it here as I think it will appeal to my school-age child.

This is sickening. I remember the horrible furore when Onjali Rauf was made writer in residence at Booktrust. I emailed Booktrust to show my support at her appointment.

I’ve since bought all her books for my DS and have given copies as gifts. They’re wonderful, moving, insightful books.

Publishing is FULL of diversity initiatives so this awful agent’s behaviour should be publicly criticised by The Bookseller. But they’ll be too cowardly…

@OrangesWithWhiskey

The belief that if one believes oneself to be virtuous, then whatever one does, however immoral, cruel or wicked, must also be virtuous, is a well-known phenomenon in psychology That's how nazi and stasi Germany operated.

Exactly - German ideals of healthy outdoor living, physical strength and clean living were seized on and warped by Nazi ideology. The Berlin homes the high-level Gestapo lived in were like something from a Grimms fairytale.

This is absolutely despicable!

The belief that if one believes oneself to be virtuous, then whatever one does, however immoral, cruel or wicked, must also be virtuous, is a well-known phenomenon in psychology

Possibly moral equivalence, if your enemy is doing terrible things (or you convince yourself they are doing this) then you feel obliged to do terrible things

This is something I see quite often on Twitter where an activist says they feel horrible climbing down in the gutter to fight, but it’s useless fighting with one hand tied behind you

Or they are just self-serving, nasty, narcissistic bullies without some noble purpose.

@bishophaha

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

I don't understand this at all. What has your skin colour and being able-bodied or not got to do with your sexuality?

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.

Which is absolute nonsense, as the majority of evacuees were working-class, and often from extremely deprived backgrounds.

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?

So this white, middle-class, privately-educated woman needs to find an angle that allows her to continue working in publishing but that cloaks the fact that she is just another white, middle-class, privately-educated woman in publishing

No need to get nasty though, just declare yourself 'NB' - or even better 'queer' - and you instantly become a member of the 'most oppressed'.

You don't even have to colour your hair blue these days.

It’s shot the book straight up the charts!

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

I haven’t misunderstood it at all

Its badly written

"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

Excellent post Lillith

I've also bought the book in solidarity.

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.

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

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

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/

@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.

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?

Just bought 4 copies for my family and friends kids

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.

@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

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.

@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)