Three women spoke to NPR on the record to accuse Sherman Alexie of inappropriate conduct, after he addressed anonymous allegations in a statement last week. NPR received reports about Alexie from a total of 10 women, but seven have chosen to remain anonymous. They say: “A clear pattern emerged: The women reported behavior ranging from inappropriate comments both in private and in public, to flirting that veered suddenly into sexual territory, unwanted sexual advances and consensual sexual relations that ended abruptly. The women said Alexie had traded on his literary celebrity to lure them into uncomfortable sexual situations.” Erika Wurth, a 22-year-old Native American […]
Authors
Alexie Addresses Accusations, Apologizes “To the People I Have Hurt”
Following a growing tide of second-hand allegations on Twitter of harassment, with an accompanying tide of media investigating and making inquiries, author Sherman Alexie issued a statement on Wednesday in which he apologized broadly to “the people I have hurt,” admitting vaguely to making “poor decisions.” In the same statement, he directly and specifically “reject[s] the accusations, insinuations and outright falsehoods made by Litsa Dremousis, who has led the charges against me” on Twitter. Alexie says that he and Dremousis “had previously been consenting sexual partners,” ending that relationship in 2015. In late 2017, Alexie writes that Dremousis emailed his […]
Daniel Handler Addresses Allegations Of Inappropriate Remarks
A Series of Unfortunate Events author Daniel Handler addressed numerous recent accusations that he has made inappropriate sexual comments to women colleagues. Handler posted a comment on YA author Gwenda Bond’s blog, responding to a recent post about sexual misconduct allegations in children’s literature. (After Handler had noted his agreement with Bond’s online petition asking industry conferences and publishers to impose stricter anti-harassment policies on February 9, at least four named individuals within the same comment thread then made accusations against Handler for making inappropriate sexual remarks to women, and children, in professional settings.) In his response, he wrote: “It’s come to […]
People, Etc.
At Andrews McMeel, Patty Rice has been promoted to executive editor; Julie Phillips to executive design director; Ben Accardi to senior editor for calendars; and Melissa Rhodes to associate editor. Lucas Wetzel moves over to the book group as editor, from AMU’s syndication division. Ashleigh Gardner has been promoted to deputy general manager for Wattpad Studios, publishing. Carrie Pestritto has joined Laura Dail Literary Agency as an agent. Previously she was an agent at Prospect Agency. At Portfolio/Sentinel, Merry Sun has been promoted to associate editor, Vivian Roberson has been promoted to assistant editor, and Katherine Valentino has been promoted to […]
Dashner Says He’ll Seek Counseling; Random House Says It Will Not Publish His Future Books
Thursday afternoon, author James Dashner posted a message on Twitter reflecting on accusations made against him of sexual harassment, apologizing and saying, “I am taking any and all criticism and accusations very seriously, and I will seek counseling and guidance to address them.” Later in the day, after ignoring queries during the week, three separate Penguin Random House divisions said together they would “not be publishing any future books by Dashner,” including THE WAKING, his first planned novel for adults, which Ballantine announced acquiring last September. (PRH’s Delacorte has published Dashner’s books for young readers.) Thereafter, his UK children’s publisher […]
Asher Admits Sex, Denies Harassment
Author Jay Asher responded further to remarks from SCBWI executive director Lin Oliver on Wednesday through a statement provided by Tammy Taylor at Sitrick and Company, a strategic communications firm whose specialties include reputation and crisis management. In the statement, Asher admits to having had relationships with “many” women connected in some way to the SCBWI, noting “Asher was married at the time of these relationships, as were many of the women.” Taylor says that seven anonymous women had sent a letter to SCBWI in April 2017 about Asher. “He is deeply sorry for the pain these consensual decisions caused his […]