Kate Clanchy: Author to rewrite memoir amid book's race and ableism row

Publisher Picador is considering alterations to Kate Clanchy's Orwell prize-winning memoir amid accusations of racial and ableist stereotyping.

Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me sparked online criticism, including from fellow authors, after a reader review highlighted alleged problematic descriptions of children.

The 2019 book examines Clanchy's time teaching in UK state schools.

In response, the author said she's "grateful" for a chance to rewrite it.

"I know I got many things wrong, and welcome the chance to write better, more lovingly", she wrote in a Twitter thread on Monday night.

She also apologised for "over reacting" to critical reader reviews on Goodreads that questioned the tone of her writing.

The reviews included passages that referenced racial tropes - including facial features and skin colour - as well as describing two autistic children as "unselfconsciously odd" and "jarring company".

Clanchy, appointed Oxford's first city poet in 2011, initially flagged the criticism herself last week. In a since-deleted tweet, she said she had been wrongfully accused of racism in a review on the Goodreads website, before falsely stating that the quotes referenced were "all made up".

On Monday, she said: "It was wrong. I don't really have an excuse, except that I am bereaved and it takes people in different ways".

"I am not a good person. I do try to say that in my book. Not a pure person, not a patient person, no one's saviour. You are right to blame me, and I blame myself."

Her apology followed an initial statement on Friday in which she promised to "reflect" on the widespread social media backlash to terms used in her book.

Clanchy added that she would consider the "views of the many readers of colour who have responded to my writing to put these learnings into practice in my work as both teacher and writer."

Meanwhile, fellow author Philip Pullman defended Clanchy and prompted criticism by suggesting people who don't read a book before they condemn it would "find a comfortable home in Isis or the Taliban".

However, the author was replying to a tweet which, it transpired, was about a different subject. Pullman had mistakenly thought the comment was referring to Clanchy. He later apologised.

"Clearly I made a mistake in thinking that a tweet referring to Ayn Rand was referring to something else entirely," he said. "Completely my fault. I should have read the whole thread. I apologise for my haste and intemperate language."

Authors of colour who criticised Clanchy's response and questioned the award-winning merit of the book, including Chimene Suleyman, Monisha Rajesh and Professor Sunny Singh, received abuse from social media users.

Suleyman, co-author of The Good Immigrant USA anthology, tweeted that she was particularly concerned by "the publishing team that didn't spot it, the awards that celebrated it, and the white authors defending it and invalidating people of colour who are upset by it".

Clanchy's memoir was awarded the Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2020 by a panel of independent judges.

On Tuesday the Orwell Foundation said that while it does not comment on the individual judging decisions of its jury, it acknowledged the "concerns and hurt" expressed about the book.

"The Foundation understands the importance of language and encourages open and careful debate about all the work which comes through our prizes," its statement read.

"Everyone should be able to engage in these discussions, on any platform, without fear of abuse."

Speaking to the BBC, Suleyman said "bridges have been broken in the publishing world" over the incident, adding there will be "some way to go to rebuild this trust with their writers and readers of colour."

"Despite being accomplished writers and teachers on structural racism and colonialism," she said, "Professor Sunny Singh, author Monisha Rajesh, and myself became invisible to authors who endorsed this book, speaking only with white authors, whilst simultaneously expressing denigrating racially-charged views of us", she said.

Rajesh told the BBC she was unsure how the book could be updated given it is "riddled with racist and ableist tropes throughout, including several phrases that she said remain "rooted in eugenics and phrenology".

Reacting to the portrayal of autistic children, bestselling teenage author Dara McAnulty, who is autistic, wrote: "Some people didn't believe me when I shared some of my education experiences and how teachers felt about me… We can understand how you really feel about us."

On Monday, Picador issued an updated statement saying it had "listened" to the conversation around the book and was "profoundly sorry" for the hurt caused to those who had "engaged with the text... to hold us to account".

Responding to the online backlash, the publisher said: "We realise our response was too slow. We vigorously condemn the despicable online bullying of many of those who have spoken out. This has no place in our community.

"We understand that readers wish to know specifically what will be done about the book, we're actively working on this now and we will communicate this as soon as possible."

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