Times Interview with Kate Clanchy - shared article in post

[NorthSouthEast]

This is a sobering, thoughtful, harrowing, blood-boiling read. What Kate Clanchy went through 😡. I’ve put this in FWR as it’s yet another story of a woman being cancelled on the basis of rumour, supposition and hearsay with self-righteous people scrambling to jump on the “be kind” wagon as it rolls another human being and their career into the mud.

Kate Clanchy: I was cancelled. It made me contemplate suicide

www.thetimes.com/article/7681d5ec-3773-4b36-ab95-e4ab409d7899?shareToken=e76def471fd13ded750d7295fd554675

It would be an absurd equivalence to make. But probably a good illustration of the tenor of the attacks on Clanchy.

Saville - serial rapist and abuser.

Clanchy - wrote a book using contentious words that was sometimes unkind about fictionalised characters. Responded emotionally to reviews.

Yup. A nonsense and deeply offensive comparison to make.

The similarity I see between the two, and Camila Batmanghelidjh, is that they all used children as props in their personal publicity strategy, and because of that all of them were regarded by many people as being beyond criticism.

Children are people. They are entitled to as much respect as adults.

They also need protection, education, help with the challenges they face as individuals. Making sure children get those things is an obligation for all adults.

Children do not owe the people who offer them those things gratitude, photo opportunities, soundbites, or their personal stories.

Off topic, but who can see comments on this article or any on thetimes.co.uk? I am overseas digital subscriber for £9.99 a month and it seems that The Times has revoked the right to comment and read comments for simple digital subscribers? Just occurred to me, usually read the e-paper.

In your opinion, what would be an acceptable way for a teacher to write about their experiences?

Can you suggest a book by another author perhaps, who has written about teaching children from different backgrounds in a way which you find more acceptable?

Or do you think that teachers should never write books about their experiences in schools?

I don’t understand why you’re saying all this stuff about children’s rights, which is right and important, and yet you are failing to listen to what they are saying because they support her and saying you wouldn’t read their poetry because of their connection with her.

Kate Clanchy seems to be a deeply unpleasant woman and that interview does nothing to change that impression in the mind of anyone who followed the saga. I note that she's very selective about which of her descriptions she chooses to reveal (almond eyes etc which most people will think of as harmless).

Why is there no word on her describing a teenage girl as butch and referring charmingly to a moustache? This is a CHILD! Would any of the people defending this woman be happy for their teenage daughter to be referred to like this in a book?

Kate is a liar who denied what was there in black and white for everyone to see.

Christ, the middle class twaddle on this thread defending Clanchy is unreal.

Perhaps you could answer my questions , which @DeanElderberry has declined to do so far. They're just a couple of posts back, but here they are again. I'd appreciate an answer from anyone who is saying that nobody should be defending her.

In your opinion, what would be an acceptable way for a teacher to write about their experiences?

Can you suggest a book by another author perhaps, who has written about teaching children from different backgrounds in a way which you find more acceptable?

Or do you think that teachers should never write books about their experiences in schools?

https://juliebindel.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-to-the-society-of-90d

Letter from Julie Bindel on the SoA.

Edit: Letter was published in 2022.

'Over the last few years, it has been clear to many of us that the Society of Authors has been captured by gender ideologues who brook no debate and who are not prepared to support authors who fall foul of online bullies. Aside from the basic decency at stake, the recent rulings in the Forstater and Bailey cases make this stance no longer tenable and could potentially lead the Society into legal jeopardy.

It is now time for the Society of Authors to live according to its principle, clearly stated in the Where We Stand section of its website, of ‘protecting free speech’ and opposing ‘in the strongest terms any attempt to stifle or control the author’s voice whether by censorship, imprisonment, execution, hate speech or trolling’. It should go without saying that this opposition should not be contingent on individual members of the Board of Management’s political agreement with the person under attack, and for this reason we believe Joanne Harris’s position as Chair of the Management Committee is untenable.'

She wasn’t using the children’s phrasing ‘back at them’ and

as though I was an animal - how on earth did you get from an author using the children’s own terms to describe them in a book, to ‘dehumanising’ them and speaking to them as if they were animals??

For whatever reason you seem hugely triggered by this book and author and I think, especially from your other comments - (Jimmy Saville wth?) that you are rather overwrought and maybe this has clouded your thoughts. I’m very sorry for whatever situation has led you to feeling like this but your attacks on Kate are vicious and unfounded.

Can you clarify how calling out a poster comparing Kate Clanchy to Jimmy Saville and Nazis is ’middle class twaddle’?

Can you pinpoint the particularly ‘twaddlish’ comments so I can understand?

@BundleBoogie are you Kate Clanchy? Or? From that article it looks like she's not averse to hiring people to bring down her "enemies".

I’m very sorry for whatever situation has led you to feeling like this but your attacks on Kate are vicious and unfounded.

Dear God, get a life. Unless you're Kate I can't see how anyone else would be invested enough to write this.

What a very odd post.

I don’t like bullies. It is very clear that a group of bullies attacked Kate, hence the apology where her publisher admitted their behaviour. I’m not sure why you would have an issue with me calling out a PP on here who has decided to add to the bullying and has compared her to Jimmy Saville and the Nazis for reasons best known to herself.

My post took me a couple of minutes to type - does that really constitute ‘invested’? You probably spent a similar amount of time writing your extremely odd and unfounded accusations - are you ‘invested’?

Can you share the specific passages that you object to in her book?

I read a brief review just now - her old Oxford college seemed quite impressed by her book. Thoughts?

www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/exonian-publishes-one-of-the-most-inspiring-books-about-teaching-youll-ever-read/

Kate Clanchy isn't the only one targeted by these women. Julie Bindel and Christina Lamb have been as well.
https://x.com/bindelj/status/1986473743548289167?t=byk17VCyTmeu1rMzwmi8Uw&s=19

And Sunny Singh, that vile woman, decided to condemn me and my book on feminism in 2021 as “racist, white feminist trash” to name but a few insults she threw at me - who she’d never met - and a book she hadn’t read.
and Christna Lamb;
Interestingly 2 of the 3 witch-hunters who led the campaign against Clanchy - Monisha Rajesh and Sunny Singh - are the same women who led online abuse against me in 2021 (and my husband and teenage son) that led to me getting death threats and almost quit my job.

I have no respect or time for people who confuse throwing insults and unfounded accusations with criticism.

I don't pretend to know much about this case, but if the book was so appalling, why was it published in the first place?

Why didn't her publishers take responsibility for what they'd unleashed on the world?

It’s a conundrum isn’t it? It seems that the kids were happy with it (and apparently still are) , the publishers were happy with it, her Oxford Alma mater was quite delighted with it.

It seems that things only went south when these three powerful women got involved and decided she was next on their list to attack.

I wonder what they attacked Christina Lamb for? Isn’t she a war correspondent? What’s she ever done to anyone?

It sounds a little like they just liked bullying others.

This is, of course, the pertinent question.

You don’t acquire a book, publish a book, enjoy the success of the the book up to and including it winning a prestigious award, and then, when someone doesn’t like some adjectives, and three vile bullies go to town on your author, throw her under the bus.

Or at least any publisher with a shred of decency and courage doesn’t do that.

WTAF?!?!! What a bizarre and quite frankly despicable comparison. What is wrong with you?

The podcast is now up early, I presume because of all the interest. will be listening later.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001zlz0

Not sure if it’s been mentioned on this thread - can’t see anything- but Kate Clanchy’s book also won the Orwell Prize for political writing in 2020. The judges included a Guardian journalist and the distinguished writer Elif Shafak, who is Turkish. Strange that none of them noticed the alleged racism and classism in the winning book.

What’s wrong with the middle class? (And where’s the twaddle?) You wouldn’t criticise the working class in such a general way, would you?

Here's what I've learnt since this thread was started:

Ceridwen's Goodreads review had misquoted Clanchy saying "slanted eyes" was in the book. Other terms were there that Ceridwen quoted but Clanchy disputed the review saying they were "all made up". https://x.com/KateClanchy1/status/1421146790808670208?s=20

So to be fair to DeanElderberry who said that Clanchy had amplified this herself "Streisand effect" I can see that and have shared the link. I've not seen evidence that Clanchy tried to get the reviewer doxxed or sacked which DeanElderberry also said, but if that existed I'd look at it.

It was found some of the terms used were quoted from her students own poetry. Perhaps this should have been the end to it. But three online bullies - Monisha Rajesh, Professor Sunny Singh and Chimene Suleyman decided to target Clanchy.

From what I've seen on X (screenshots) these women had a history of attacking white women and Jewish people. Here are some of the quotes:

Monisha Rajesh accused Professor Mary Beard of "white tears" https://x.com/QcWynter/status/1986749965725499797?s=20

Prof Sunny Singh called Julie Bindel's book Feminism For Women "racist, white feminist trash". https://x.com/bindelj/status/1986473743548289167?s=20

Author Christina Lamb tweeted that Monisha Rajesh and Sunny Singh "led online abuse against me in 2021 (and my husband and teenage son) that led to me getting death threats and almost quit my job." https://x.com/christinalamb/status/1986426802558865458?s=20

Monisha Rajesh called poet Rachel Rooney "shit-for-brains". https://x.com/RooneyRachel/status/1986857742535934112?s=20

Monisha Rajesh called Kate Clanchy "KKKlanchy" https://x.com/OpheliaBenson/status/1986437213966770612?s=20

Prof Sunny Singh called JK Rowling's writing "racist, sexist, homosphobic (sic), classist, ableist, imperial, slavery apologia." She rants over multiple tweets https://x.com/galluslass/status/1986107039039271098?s=20

Monisha Rajesh called David Baddiel a "steaming c*t. A vile self-seeking ct...hateful hateful man" (I have censored the word c*t in case it's a mumsnet forum condition but Monisha wrote it in full). https://x.com/SCynic1/status/1986749543560434099?s=20

Monisha Rajesh said "it's about time for a presidential assassination". https://x.com/TarekFatah/status/797089444914405376?s=20

Chimene Suleyman accused authors of "heinous racism and ongoing harrassment" against herself, Singh and Rajesh. https://quillette.com/2021/08/29/inflammatoryanti-racism/

I haven't linked to Monisha Rajesh, Prof Sunny Singh or Chimene Suleyman's X accounts as they seem to have deleted their profiles so I'm linking to either screenshots or people's accounts of what they said.

Rajesh deleted her X account after making a crying video on Instagram asking people not to contact her about the BBC podcast 'Anatomy of a Cancellation' which she said was "violent behaviour" (scroll down to Crocodile Tears https://www.thetimes.com/article/bbbd2362-106d-4c43-bc2f-a646ca60b0aa?shareToken=29b2bbd99e0dcd193df93b8dbe83ff55) and see Kathleen Stock's article https://unherd.com/2025/11/how-to-play-the-victim-card/

Rajesh's reel has gone from Instagram but you can watch her Oscar worthy sobs here https://x.com/nice_cuppa/status/1986031175270539719?s=20

In 2021 in response to the attacks on her memoir and her descriptions of children Clanchy rewrote it and issued an apology Kate Clanchy to rewrite memoir amid criticism of ‘racist and ableist tropes’ | Kate Clanchy | The Guardian

Philip Pullman who initially defended Clanchy also issued an apology Philip Pullman apologises for social media comments in defence of controversial memoir – The Irish Times

Picador apologised to anyone who had taken offence “profoundly for the hurt we have caused”. A statement from Picador regarding Kate Clanchy's Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me - Pan Macmillan

Joanne Harris (then chair of the Management Committee of the SOA) and the Society of Authors criticised Clanchy https://loobylou.substack.com/p/some-complaints-i-made-and-what-they and
https://societyofauthors.org/2021/08/11/inclusivity-across-publishing/

Why am I "invested" in this thread? I'm sick of (mainly) women being cancelled because other people (bullies) have taken offence at something or disagreed with their views. Lots of women have lost their careers (I named some in an earlier comment - Rachel Rooney, Gillian Phillip, Rosie Kay, academics who can't work in Universities anymore like Sheila Jeffreys and Kathleen Stock), JK Rowling can't be cancelled but is constantly attacked. Graham Linehan lost his career.

It's also worth remembering that Kate Clanchy worked with immigrant and refugee children for over 30 years (not every teacher does that). She was awarded the Orwell prize for her memoir. She was given an MBE for her work with refugee children. https://poetrysociety.org.uk/news/clanchy/
Her students wrote a letter supporting her https://x.com/KateClanchy1/status/1986345961380077949?s=20

She continues to support girls and women writing poetry in Afghanistan sharing their words on her X account eg.https://x.com/KateClanchy1/status/1986052668456858106?s=20
https://x.com/KateClanchy1/status/1985403231628079593?s=20

https://x.com/KMScattergood/status/1986556627743387872?s=20

This doesn't sound like a horrible racist, ableist woman to me. She described children in her own words or in theirs and I don't agree with people censoring her life, her experiences or her words even if they decided to find offence.

"Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me" is on Audible read by Kate Clanchy. I will be listening to it. I will be listening to "Anatomy of a Cancellation". Pan Macmillan, her former publisher, have now apologised to Clanchy. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-cowardly-publishing-world-betrayed-kate-clanchy/

I don't like DARVO crybullies. I don't like sexist reverse racism such as calling white women "Karen". I don't like the words I've seen from the three ethnic minority writers who attacked Clanchy and other writers so viciously. Which in my opinion are far far worse than anything Clanchy wrote!
But in 2021, 950 writers signed an open letter rushing to the defence of Rajesh, Singh and Suleyman Book industry figures condemn abuse of Clanchy critics in open letter

Instead of standing by their words they have deleted their accounts. Where is their apology?

My post was exactly like yours above making similar accusations at another poster. Look, I'm not on any "side". I'm not a fan of those other three women either. In general I stay away from people who make calling out people and "speaking up" their entire personality. I'm sick of that shit, from anyone. But from being in the industry and seeing this go on, Kate was awful and the criticism of her was wholly justified. She didn't want to just apologise and move on though. The whole article reeks of both victimhood and an air of superiority.

Tapsalteerie Press in Scotland pulped a whole run because one of the writers who co authored the book was accused of 'transphobia'.