SoA responds to author resignations

The Society of Authors has said that the response to the Gaza vote will be the lead agenda item at its upcoming management committee board meeting on Thursday 16th May. It follows the resignation of several prominent writers over a vote on whether the organisation should release a statement condemning Israeli violence in Gaza. 

An extraordinary general meeting (e.g.m.) was called on 2nd May, during which members of the society voted against releasing the proposed statement, which criticised the “indiscriminate targeting of civilians and cultural infrastructure” in Gaza and called for an "immediate ceasefire". The SoA argued that the statement was "outside of our remit and expertise" and that there was "no mandate from our membership". 

At the meeting 786 Society of Authors (SoA) members voted for the proposed statement, which was jointly organised by Fossil Free Books (FFB) and Book Workers for a Free Palestine, while 883 voted against.

In the weeks since the vote, authors including Sunny Singh, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Sophie Anderson, Vikki Patis, Arden Jones, Louie Stowell, Hilary McKay, Jennifer Killick, Karin Celestine, Anne Rouse, Nizrana Farook, A M Dassu and Sinéad O’Hart have resigned from the SoA.

In her resignation letter, Singh wrote: "I, for one, cannot imagine being in a room with people who could not bring themselves to condemn an ongoing genocide of children.” 

Her letter continued: "I resign with...relief from this organisation where a majority of members cannot bring themselves to critique the murder of fellow writers, or raise their voice to call for a ceasefire for an ongoing genocide." 

When The Bookseller requested a statement in response to the resignations, the SoA forwarded an email which was circulated to members on 9th May. It said: "Following our 2022 a.g.m., we started work on a series of governance changes which we hoped would protect all members’ interests. These included the development of new policies on who speaks for the union and when we comment. Our aim was to clarify the SoA’s public role while protecting individual members’ freedom of expression. 

"This policy and position does not represent a lack of compassion for the sufferings and grief in Israel and Palestine over the last seven months. It would be inhuman not to be horrified by so much death and destruction, murder and mendacity. We do understand the strength of feeling among members, and of course we all hope for a fair peace in the region." 

The society invited members to share their input ahead of the management committee board meeting.

Following the vote, the FFB released a statement saying it was “disappointed that our trade union still refuses to condemn the genocide in Gaza, support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, or express solidarity with Palestinian writers and publishing workers here in the UK who face job loss and censorship for speaking out”. 

Later, on posting on X (formerly known as Twitter), FFB said: “We’re evaluating the pros and cons of staying in the SoA, as well as considering forming a new chapter at a new union.

“Some of us staying in the SoA, while others leave for other unions, risks fragmenting our collective power.”