A round-up of the week's literary news.
Junot Díaz is accused of sexual misconduct- Author
Zinzi Clemmons ('What We Lose') accused Junot Díaz of
cornering her and forcibly kissing her when she was 26
- Author
Carmen Maria Machado ('Her Body and Other Parties') also shared a story of being
verbally abused by Díaz. Author Monica Byrne ('The Girl in the Road') also had a story about being verbally abused by him.
- A few days before that, Díaz had published an
article on the New Yorker talking about how he was a
victim of CSA. In it, he admitted vaguely that as an adult,
he had "hurt women" as a result of his trauma.
-
Roxane Gay said on twitter that there had been
whispers for years about Díaz inappropriate behaviour. She also considered his New Yorker article a
"pre-emptive move"- Following the backlash, Díaz withdrew from the Sydney Writers' Festival.
His publicist He said: "I take responsibility for my past.
That is the reason I made the decision to tell the truth of my rape and its damaging aftermath. This conversation is important and must continue. I am listening to and learning from women’s stories in this essential and overdue cultural movement. We must continue to teach all men about consent and boundaries".
No Nobel Prize for Literature in 2018 Amid Sexual Assault Scandal- A newspaper published that
18 women had accused the French photographer Jean-Claude Arnault of
sexual assault or harassment. He ran a culture venue in Stockholm which received support from the Academy and is married to a member of the Academy. He
had been accused over more than 20 years of mistreating women in properties that the Academy owns. He's also accused of leaking the names of Prize winners.
- According to news reports in Sweden, one of the victims of assault was
the Crown Princess Victoria. There are several witness to her being groped by him.
- Members of the Academy began resigning over the handling (or not handling) of the matter and now it's in shambles and there's no Prize this year.
Mary Karr reminds people that David Foster Wallace abused, stalked her- Author
Mary Karr ('The Liars Club') had a relationship with DFW years ago and was subjected to his violence and stalking. This has often been overlooked as a quirky feature of DFW's personality. In a biography of DFW, his months-long campaign of abuse is reduced to two lines.
sources 12345remember to join our ONTD Reading Challenge this month, with the theme Men Are Weak. We're reading a fantasy book written by a woman!