Anatomy of a Cancellation: 3. The Paper Trail
How did Kate Clanchy’s publisher respond to the online debate?
Shadow World · BBC Radio 4
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Show Notes
Katie Razzall considers the internal reaction at publishing house Pan Macmillan during the storm surrounding Kate Clanchy’s memoir Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.
As online criticism of the book intensifies, Kate Clanchy’s publisher faces mounting pressure from readers, authors, and its own staff. Drawing on a trove of redacted internal emails, the episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how a major publisher grapples with a moment of reputational crisis.
In Shadow World: Anatomy of a Cancellation, the BBC’s Culture Editor Katie Razzall revisits a story that rocked the UK’s publishing industry in 2021. It led to what some saw as the unjustified cancellation of a prize-winning writer and teacher - but to others, was a long overdue reckoning for the world of publishing. It grew into a culture war about race, class, and who has the right to say what.
Anatomy of a Cancellation explores a range of different perspectives to consider how people now view one of the most controversial literary rows in recent memory.
Presenter: Katie Razzall Producer: Charlotte McDonald Additional production: Octavia Woodward Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison Sound design and mix: James Beard Story editing: Meara Sharma Series producer: Matt Willis Senior news editor: Clare Fordham Commissioning executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning editor: Dan Clarke
It was a BBC Long Form Audio production for Radio 4.