Petition to Society of Authors re their chair

[beastlyslumber]

The chair of SoA is Joanne Harris, a TRA. Over the years she has tweeted some nasty things to and about other authors. After the attack on Salman Rushdie, JKR tweeted and received death threats. JH's response was a sarcastic tweet.

There's now been a petition organised to ask the SoA to consider whether their chair can be considered to be defending authors' rights in the light of her activism.

I'm an author, and as much as I find JH's activism unpleasant, I'm not convinced that a petition isn't just more cancel culture. I want to see evidence that what she's doing on twitter is affecting the work of the SoA - I think she is damaging the perception of the organisation, for sure. But she is an unlikeable person and it's hard for me to separate these things out. I don't want to sign the petition just because I dislike her. Any other authors who've signed it or are considering doing so?

That's splitting hairs. She seems to have let her opinions get in the way of doing her job.

Not a writer, not a member. On the face of it, though, I’d say she isn’t fulfilling the brief of the role. She’s not impartial and that’s been obvious in her conduct. She’s failed to support authors who’ve been bullied, apparently because they hold views she doesn’t share. This makes her unfit to hold the office IMO.

She is a malign influence, certainly not impartial and until she goes, I would not trust the SOA to support me as an author.

I tend to agree with this view. But I don't like the petition. I do like the idea of writing a letter and withdrawing my membership on the basis that the SoA is not fairly representing all their members.

Yes, he's signed it!

Sorry, I keep calling it a petition. It's an open letter.

JH said she’d unintentionally got the wrong tone on the death threat poll, but then goes on to like The Midnight Society posts about JKR and like posts referring to ‘terfs.’

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11121973/Joanne-Harris-takes-swipe-JK-Rowling-Twitter-just-hours-dismissing-row-fabricated.html

Looks like Harris is at it again.
Does she think her behaviour is actually appropriate?
An open letter is definitely needed. Along with a swift sacking.

I don't think this is a call for JH to be cancelled at all. It's just a request to remove her from a position which she is completely unsuited to - as she demonstrated repeatedly over the last few years.

I think that it demonstrates that the SoA is another corrupted institution. It's not just JH that is the problem. The SoA should have been first to respond to the attack on Salman Rushdie with a strong statement of support for him and for freedom of expression in general. They should be at the forefront of campaigns against cancel culture and censorship in writing. But they aren't. And I don't think that's just because of JH. I think as a society, they have lost their way.

The Free Speech Union seems to me to be a far more useful organisation for writers to belong to now - and the subs are cheaper.

Name change for this.

Not a writer, but I do have personal experience of Ms Harris, she lives locally. Let's just say she's...difficult.

I have watched the unfolding saga over the past few days, and it just feels like a a school bully who has been caught out and is saying "didn't do it".

Some of the stuff she is coming out with is frankly lies, and other stuff is fanciful to say the least.

Her claim yesterday to have been stalked, have a man try to force his way into her house, and to have found a machine gun and house breaking tools in her garden gave me pause for thought. If that were me, I would certainly beef up security at my house. Yet I drive past her house regularly - a large mansion set in acres of grounds - and it has an open driveway, no visible security, and is easy to find online. It just seemed a bit off. Maybe she's telling the truth. But I did wonder.

Agree.

SoA is presumably a 'luxury beliefs' organisation.

unherd.com/thepost/if-joanne-harris-wont-defend-women-i-wont-support-her/

Another statement from the SoA. It seems they've picked loyalty to an individual over the integrity of the organisation. Strange, short-sighted choice imho.

societyofauthors.org/News/News/2022/August/A-response-and-call-for-unity

I think I've let my membership lapse (Waterstones discount was the only benefit I ever used and since I gave up shopping there the membership fee didn't seem worth it.) If it turns out I haven't I'll certainly be cancelling.

No, they have a list of new members in their magazine every quarter. I was a member for many years until last year (I didn't resign because of Joanna Harris, it just wasn't worth the money for me).

I have been a member for years, and through work have often recommended authors join but this latest episode is leaving a very nasty taste. I know people who have signed both open letters, and do feel very uneasy about signing Julie Bindel's (certainly not signing Melissa Salisbury's). The SoA have been extremely helpful to me in the past dealing with contracts, but I really can't see how I can in all conscience stay with an organisation that is prepared to support someone who behaves the way Joanne Harris does.

So from me I think it's resignation and a letter.

I had recently enquired about joining, but have now written to say that I can't/won't join an organisation that doesn't support or advocate for women members.

Harris’s JOB is writing novels. Nobody is trying to stop her doing that, or trying to stop her getting published, or trying to stop shops stocking her book. Nor should they.

Her (unpaid) position is chair of the Society of Authors, a union supposed to stand up for authors’ rights.

For several years now she has done that only selectively, mocked, taunted & refused to express support for authors who she doesn’t agree with or dislikes & has blocked efforts to issue collective statements of support.

Her public treatment of Rachel Rooney & Gillian Phillip - all on the record - is disgraceful.

This week she tweeted a list of help she claims she has given to GC writers in terms which make it look very much like the cases of writers who are perfectly clear that she didn’t help them.

She continues to mock & deride writers who complain about their union not supporting them, and claims criticism = threats.

If a union lets its chair continue like this, it’s not really a union, is it?

More like a playground bullying clique you have to pay to join.

That list has been commented on by authors who recognise some of the details of their own cases but dispute that she was of any help to them.

Okay, wow. I'm cancelling my membership now.

Joanne Harris has tweeted today that JKR is a 'useful Trojan Horse for bigotry.'
Her bullying of JKR hasn't stopped and she does bring the SoA into disrepute by this constant bombardment of JKR.

She can FRO, then.

Well, I think Joanne Harris is seriously bigoted against women.

thecritic.co.uk/we-are-all-culture-warriors/ mentions Joanne Harris and the disingenuous game she's now playing.

I do have personal experience of Ms Harris, she lives locally. Let's just say she's...difficult.

This has intrigued me. I've clearly been on mumsnet too long because am imagining parking wars, badly-behaved dogs, tailgating and all the other aibu staples.

I think she is damaging the perception of the organisation, for sure. But she is an unlikeable person and it's hard for me to separate these things out.

It’s an interesting one. I’ve found myself pondering whether or not this is a free speech issue and I don’t think it is. She has a clear conflict of interest (which isn’t necessarily a problem but it is a problem that she doesn’t recognise she has one). It’s not her opinions that are the problem it’s her behaviour and her professionalism. She wrote a whole thread about the practicalities of how a claim is looked at and how she doesn’t have any influence over decision making. The problem is many people will look at her using her right to free speech to have unpleasant public spats on twitter and they will think that as chair of the SoA she must have some influence over things. She is undoubtedly damaging the reputation of the organisation. Question is does it matter? Would it be discriminatory if they removed her as chair? I can imagine if she’d been GC, and behaving in a similar way, she’d be long gone by now.