The letter from the author of His Dark Materials, leaked to Private Eye magazine, is the latest in a series of controversies to hit SoA, which began after comments Pullman made about Kate Clanchy’s controversial memoir Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught. My. Pullman spoke out in support of Clanchy and the book, which was criticized for racial and ableist stereotyping. In a now-deleted tweet, made in response to a comment he mistakenly assumed was about Clanchy, Pullman said those who criticized the book without reading it would “find a comfortable home in Isis or the Taliban”. The Society of Editors then released a statement distancing itself from Pullman’s comments, and Pullman later apologized on Twitter. However, the author decided to step down from the presidency, a post he held for nine years, in March this year, saying that “recent events have made it clear that when a difference of opinion arises, there is no easy way to resolve it within the constitution or the established practices of society”. In a letter he wrote to the SoA board and published by Private Eye this week, Pullman said he resigned because he “felt the Society did not support me when I was criticized by those who attacked” Clanchy and her book. “Instead of considering the matter calmly, the society (through its management committee and president) immediately adopted a position of neutrality for itself (as it seemed to me), though more self-righteous than neutral,” the letter continues. In the letter, Pullman also criticized author Joanne Harris, who chairs the company’s management committee. Last month two petitions were released among the authors, one in support of Harris and one in support of her resignation. The reports were made in response to a Twitter poll started by Harris asking about writers’ experiences of receiving death threats. He tweeted the poll after the attack on Salman Rushdie and after a death threat to J.J. K. Rowling, who had expressed her solidarity with Rushdie. Those calling for Harris’ resignation say they found the tone of the original tweet – she later rephrased her poll – “subversive”. In his letter, Pullman said “the flippant and frivolous public comments by the chairman of the management committee only demonstrate how far the society has come from the serious, valuable and intelligent organization it was when I joined 30 years ago.” He said he felt the SoA “needs research and outside research”. The union has yet to publicly respond to Pullman’s letter, but has previously said it is “absolutely committed” to condemning any personal attacks made on creators for exercising their rights to free expression.
