Society of Authors attempts to draw line under Harris criticism with call for unity

The Society of Authors has issued a call for unity among its members and says it has investigated allegations it failed to support gender critical members but has found no basis for complaint. The development followed a second open letter issued by critics of SoA chair Joanne Harris.

In the wake of the attack on Salman Rushdie, Harris faced calls to go in an initial open letter which called her position “untenable” and claimed the society “failed to come to the defence" of authors like Gillian Philip, Rachel Rooney, Julie Bindel, Onjali Rauf and Kate Clanchy when they received death threats. The letter, hosted on Bindel’s Substack page, has been signed by more than 270 people, around 50 of which are not from the industry.

A rival open letter was released by Melinda Salisbury in support of Harris and has now amassed more than 600 signatures. It calls Harris “a stalwart, fair, dedicated, and passionate chair, who has frequently gone above and beyond her role as chair to champion all authors”.

Harris has defended herself on Twitter and denied the claims about her conduct, insisting she will remain in post until her term ends in 2024.

On 18th August, Bindel’s Substack page featured a further letter, taking on Harris’ defenders and repeating claims that she has not supported gender critical writers. It states it has no issue with Harris’ views, but goes on: “Our issue is her failure to separate those views from her role at the Society of Authors, and the way she has cast those who hold opposing views, and suffer harassment and even loss of livelihood as a response, as authors of their own misfortune. Since we published our letter we have received hundreds of supportive emails from authors and others within the publishing industry, many of whom are terrified of speaking out on any contentious issue for fear of the consequences.”

In a lengthy statement released on 19th August, the SoA said it had “watched with concern” the allegations made against the organisation and Harris. It said: “Following the attempted murder of Sir Salman Rushdie on 12 August, it is more important than ever that authors find ways to co-operate, regardless of their views, to protect the fragile freedom of expression that we all depend on.

“We again call on all authors to converse with dignity and respect and to unite to work together on the issues which affect us all.”

It went on: “So far as is possible when only vague details have been given, we have investigated the allegations that we have failed to support the authors in question.

“We have found no evidence that either the unanimously appointed chair of our democratically elected management committee or the SoA staff team have failed to act even-handedly, nor have we found any cases where members asking for help in dealing with publishers or requesting advice were refused.”

The organisation reiterated its position that it does not make individual statements of support or get involved in debates between writers. Despite “an escalation” in personal attacks on authors via social media, the authors’ union said it does not have the resources to condemn each one.

One of the cases raised by critics of the organisation is that of novelist Amanda Craig, who was dropped as a judge of the Mslexia writing competition in 2020 after she signed an open letter in support of J K Rowling. The new open letter states: “She wrote to the competition organisers demanding her fee, and before sending the letter, asked an officer of the SoA (not Ms Harris) to let her know if there was anything useful she had omitted from it. There wasn’t, so she posted it (and received the fee). Craig did not ask for her job back and had no interaction with Ms Harris during this minimal contact with the society.”

However, the SoA said the letter does not mention c.e.o. Nicola Solomon spoke to Mslexia and “helped secure the payment on her behalf”. The SoA said this was an example of the issues its trained staff deal with on a daily basis for members, regardless of their views, and had nothing to do with the chair of its management committee

The SoA added: “The allegations against Joanne Harris as chair seem to be that she has failed to engage with authors, has joined in smear campaigns against them and has been unwilling to represent their interests. This is not a fair representation of the engaged and passionate chair that the management committee and members see, as exemplified in Melinda Salisbury’s open letter of support for Joanne Harris, not to mention the many private messages of support that the SoA has received.”

It added: “We are surprised at the claims that gender critical women are treated any differently from other SoA members. We repeat that we have investigated the files of the named women and see no basis for complaint. Any complaints that appropriate assistance was refused or that they were treated in any way outside our stated guidelines are unfounded.

“If anyone has evidence to the contrary we invite them to write to us at the SoA with specific examples and we will investigate. In the meantime, we will continue to welcome and work for all authors whatever their ideology or beliefs and at every stage in their careers.”