Monday 26 September 2022 02:50 AM Author accused of 'racism' in memoir hires investigators in war of words with ... trends now
An award-winning author who was accused of 'racism' has hired private investigators to look into the social media profiles of Chocolat novelist and head of the writers' trade union, Joanne Harris OBE, following a war of words between the two.
Last year, Clanchy was accused by online commentators of stereotyping and being derogatory towards children from ethnic minorities and with autism in her memoir Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.
In a letter to staff and members of the Society of Authors seen by The Times, Oxford poet and teacher Kate Clanchy accused Harris of calling her 'ignorant, cruel and patronising'.
She also wrote that she had become a scapegoat for issues throughout the publishing industry, as 'Harris had suggested [she should]'.
In a letter to staff and members of the Society of Authors seen by The Times , Oxford poet and teacher Kate Clanchy accused Society of Authors Chairwoman Joanne Harris of calling her 'ignorant, cruel and patronising'
Ms Clanchy was attacked online for including so-called racist tropes in her book, including describing pupils as having 'chocolate-coloured skin' and 'almond-shaped eyes'.
The 57-year-old writer said sorry and pledged to rewrite parts of the book but was still essentially dropped by publisher Pan Macmillan.
Clanchy earlier won the Orwell Prize for political writing in 2020, and the book included poetry by students where she taught at Oxford Spires Academy, but the revised version was shelved.
The Society for Authors, which has over 12,000 members, became embroiled in 'the culture war' when its former president, His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman, defended Clanchy last August.
In his online post Pullman said those who condemned it before reading it would 'find a comfortable home in Isis or the Taliban'.
He later deleted the tweet and apologised after a backlash from activists who claim the book was 'racist'.
The Society later invited Pullman to attend race awareness training.
French-English author Joanne Harris, who wrote Chocolat. Harris is Chairwoman of the writers' trade union the Society of Authors, which has come under attack from writer Kate Clanchy
The 75-year-old author later resigned his post in March, writing in his resignation letter: 'I realised that I would not be free to express my personal opinions as long as I remained president.'
In a letter sent
