Open Counter-Letter Galloway

Context for the Galloway Case

The following are links providing context for the firing of Steven Galloway from the University of British Columbia, the subsequent attempt by a group calling itself UBCAccountable to support Galloway and criticize the actions of UBC, and the reason for the counter-letter, a petition delivered to the representatives of UBCAccountable November 23, 2016.

The events connected to UBCAccountable's actions are complex, and over time have become associated with other problems in the CanLit industry. This page tracks background for the controversy, provides resources for understanding the terms of the debate and includes some of the views of UBCAccountable signatories themselves, from 2016 to 2018.

If you are interested in learning more about what the circumstances of the UBCAccountable controversy were, what related controversies continue to mean in CanLit and what the future of CanLit could involve, please look for the collection REFUSE: CanLit in Ruins,.

Related Open Letters, Statements and Petitions

Open Letter Archives - UBC Accountable

UBCAccountable open letter, archived with signatures. Additional statements on the site are also archived.

Open Counter-Letter Galloway - Response to UBC Accountable

Open Letter in petition form and web page against the UBCAccountable letter. Web page shows signatures.

UBCAccountable, Stop Making Our Work Harder

Open letter from students, professors and activists at Brock University

Open Letter from Students to Our Literary Heroes

Open letter from students at the University of Winnipeg

A Statement Against the Culture of Male Privilege and Abuse of Power in Canadian Creative Writing Programs

Statement by CWILA and CCWWP

Background

by Alicia Elliott

After Galloway: We must value a woman’s pain above a man’s reputationThe intense focus on how the allegations have affected the accused - without much consideration of how the complainants have been affected, speaks volumes about our out-of-whack societal priorities

Surrogates, Sycophants, Soldier Ants, and Sheep: Debunking The Steven Galloway Innocence ProjectBefore we smugly tell ourselves that the spinning of fake and cherry-picked news ends at our Canadian border, let’s reconsider the story telling of Steven Galloway’s dismissal from Head of Cr…

Steven Galloway case divides Canadian scholars

Authors withdraw their names from open letter regarding UBC’s Steven Galloway case | Quill and Quire

Woman who accused Steven Galloway of sexual assault breaks silenceThe woman, identified only as MC, says complaint was not about a ‘consensual affair’

One year later: #UBCaccountable revives discourse on Galloway affair

Under a cloud: How UBC’s Steven Galloway affair has haunted a campus and changed livesUBC’s celebrated writing program has been mired in controversy since the dismissal of its department head amid allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct. Secrecy is a large part of the problem but school officials remain adamant that their hands are tied

Article is from 2001.

Let the UBC backbiting begin

Steven Galloway admits to affair but says UBC probe cleared him of sexual assault

How the Steven Galloway affair became a CanLit class war - Macleans.caA petition. A counter-petition. Apologies. Accusations. Canada’s most beloved authors have found themselves embroiled in an ugly controversy

This Isn't The Witch Hunt You're Looking ForIf witch hunts were historically about the privileged persecuting the vulnerable, why do people keep evoking the term to defend powerful men like Steven Galloway and Jian Ghomeshi?

A timeline of events in the case of author Steven Galloway

Steven Galloway scandal creates divisions in the CanLit world

Atwood and Martel among Canadian writers drawn into row over creative writing tutor's sacking

Author Steven Galloway makes first statement since UBC firing, questions handling of case

Why Every Canadian Author Has an Opinion About a Campus Sex Assault Case | VICE | Canada

Canadian literary world divides over sex charges against novelist

Feminist literary festival in Vancouver makes room for controversyAn event celebrating Room magazine’s 40th anniversary refuses to skirt around the recent divide in the Canadian literary scene

briarpatchmagazine.com/announcements/view/joseph-boydens-role-as-contest-judge

UBC alumni involved in Steven Galloway case offer advice to creative writing students at ConcordiaAs Concordia University is rocked by allegations of sexual assault and harassment within its creative writing program, a wave of support has crossed the country via social media

www.martlet.ca/ubc-writing-controversy-hits-close-to-home-as-uvic-profs-sign-letter/

The Black Woman’s Tale: Why Margaret Atwood’s Espousal of White Feminist Beliefs Shouldn’t Surprise You

by Lorri Neilsen Glenn

Keep pushing back: A response to #ubcaccountable"The cultural juggernaut of misused power and privilege needs your voice."

Margaret Atwood, Susan Swan release joint statement on UBC AccountableThe website for UBC Accountable has now been labelled as an archived site

Why Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood is facing #MeToo backlashIt all centers on an infamously murky Canadian sexual assault case.

Sexual Assault at the University of British Columbia: Prevention, Response and Accountability

Report for UBC

What’s #ubcaccountable & Why Are So Many Authors Tweeting About It? - FlareLast week, dozens of CanLit authors, including Joseph Boyden, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, published an open letter calling for fairness in the case of novelist Steven Galloway—who was fired from UBC last June following unnamed claims made by a UBC student. But why did they privilege Galloway's rights over those of his alleged victim?

Testimony, Reactions, Storify

Q&A: Professor Zoe Todd on Joseph Boyden, the importance of language, and the Galloway letter | Quill and Quire

Joseph Boyden's tangled web of "accountability," or the dumpster fire that is UBC Accountable, CanLit and PR (with tweets) · WordsandGuitarBoyden stood firm with his friend Stephen Galloway, accused of sexually assaulting and harassing one of his students. He even created the group "UBC Accountable," for which he recruited big names in CanLit. Until, that is, indigenous people started asking him who he himself was accountable to...

Sometimes Women Have to Make Hard Choices to Be WritersKai Cheng Thom on the Galloway affair, survival, and women’s participation in CanLit rape culture.

by Jen Sookfong Lee

On Margaret Atwood and the new Canlit

a letter to Joseph Boydentan’si Joseph, My name is Samantha; I am a Cree-Metis woman. My family comes from Ile-a-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan, but I grew up in Treaty 8 territory in Northeastern British Columbia. I am writing …

roommagazine.com/tags/no-comment

Jen Sookfong Lee: essay // Open Letters and Closed Doors

by Emily Kellogg

The Legal Ramifications of the Whisper NetworkGoing public with sexual assault and harassment allegations can have serious repercussions—even if you’re doing so to protect other people from harm

By Zoe Whittall. Please note: article existed in a different format 5 Feb 2018. Was pulled by the Walrus for "fact-checking" & reposted 9 Feb 2018.

CanLit Has a Sexual-Harassment ProblemNow, more than ever, we must create an environment in which young writers feel they can come forward

by Dorothy Palmer

Canada Has a Silencing ProblemOn February 5, 2018, I remember my first thought when I read Zoe Whittall’s excellently contextualized first version of CanLit has a Sexual Harassment Problem: “Finally, a national opinion piece wh…

The Implicit Misogyny Of Joseph Boyden's Open LetterThe terrible truth is that there is often no justice for women who speak out about sexual assault and sexual harassment, and as such it can take every ounce of will for women to honour their own experiences and not be silenced. The Boyden letter takes that juggernaut of misogyny and with the weight of authority crushes it down on those students who lodged complaints against Steven Galloway.

by Karen L. Freedman

blog.pshares.org/index.php/author-worship/

Due ProcessI un-followed a Canadian author who helped shape my identity as a human and as a creator. I un-followed her because it hurt. Two words she threw out like a casual sprinkling of flavour on a massiv…

by Alicia Elliott

CanLit is a Raging Dumpster Fire

by Mike Doherty

#CanLit at the Crossroads: Violence is Nothing New; How We Deal With it Might BeOver at Maclean’s Magazine, Brian Bethune has referred to it as a “CanLit class war.” In The Globe and Mail, Marsha Lederman has dubbed it an “all-out CanLit civil war.” In her various highly publi…

by Stacy Lee Kong

Yes, Margaret Atwood *Is* A Bad Feminist. Here's WhyAtwood doesn't seem to have learned anything from the previous UBC Accountable backlash, tbh

by Gwen Benaway

CanLit: It’s Time for the “No Contact” Rule - carte blancheBeing asked to write about the status of Canadian Literature feels very similar to when an ex lover asks you out for coffee. You know nothing good will come from it and can anticipate the entire conversation, but you still show up looking cute and hoping that therapy has finally fixed them. At least, that’s how talking about Canadian Literature feels to me. I’ve been there, had the group therapy, learned to love myself for myself, and have deleted CanLit’s contact information from my phone.

by Simon Lewsen

The CanLit FirestormAfter the Steven Galloway controversy, Canadian literature may never be the same

by Chantal Braganza, TVO

Margaret Atwood’s failure of imaginationOPINION: The author’s comments about 'good feminists' don’t make her a renegade — they put her squarely on the side of the status quo.

by Mandi Grey, NOW Magazine

How Margaret Atwood got in trouble with "good feminists"The celebrated author has come under fire for her defense of former UBC professor Steven Galloway in her latest piece in the Globe and Mail

by Erika Thorkelson

Setting the CanLit canon on fire | University AffairsHow controversy, curriculum change and emerging perspectives are shifting the study of Canadian literature.

Opposing Views

Steven Galloway is Innocent Until Proven GuiltyEveryone is owed due process

Atwood compares UBC’s handling of Steven Galloway probe to Salem witch trials | Toronto Star

Am I a bad feminist?Canadian author Margaret Atwood examines how she landed in such hot water among her peers for signing an open letter regarding UBC’s handling of a sexual-harassment case

Margaret Atwood on the Galloway Affair

More than 10 writers remove their names from controversial letter in Steven Galloway caseCanadian novelists Madeleine Thien, Rawi Hage and Lisa Moore are among those who have removed their names from a letter that called for due process for the author, who was fired from his job as the chair of UBC’s creative writing program in 2016 after a high-profile suspension the previous year

Following Margaret Atwood essay, PEN says Galloway-related website should stay onlineWriters’ advocacy group responds to Atwood’s opinion piece about the controversial firing of UBC program head

Update to PEN Canada’s Statement Regarding the UBC Accountable WebsiteEarlier this month, PEN Canada released a statement expressing concern over "calls to remove" a website called UBC Accountable.

How the Steven Galloway scandal sparked a CanLit civil war

Margaret Atwood to donate to sexual-violence fundHelping claimants with support services brings opposite sides of CanLit controversy together

Post-Appeal Process : Payout; Main Complainant's Request to UBC; Galloway's 2018 Lawsuit; Other Issues

by Jesse Ferreras

Steven Galloway awarded $167,000 after UBC dismissed him from creative writing programThat grievance alleged UBC's actions had violated the author's privacy rights, and caused him "irreparable reputation damage and financial loss."

by Marsha Lederman

Main Galloway complainant urges university policy change Woman says the University of British Columbia should ban professors from dating students, asks for unredacted version of case report

by Sarah Berman

This Canadian Author Is Suing His Sexual Assault AccuserA legal fund for defendants named in Steven Galloway’s defamation suit has raised more than $55,000.

by Melanie Green

Crowdfunding for defendants in fired UBC prof’s lawsuit hits almost $50,000 in 24 hours | The StarSteven Galloway filed a lawsuit this week against a woman he says falsely accused him of sexual and physical assaults as well as two dozen other people who he says repeated the accusations on social media. But one woman in the Canadian literary community has decided to help the defendants.

by Jane Gerster

Is it time for Canadian universities to ban student-professor relationships?The main complainant in the case of fired UBC professor Steven Galloway is calling for a ban on professor-student relationships. Not everyone agrees.

by Karin Larsen

Fired UBC prof suing woman who accused him of sexual assault | CBC NewsFormer UBC professor Steven Galloway is suing 20 people for defamation, including the woman who first accused him of sexual misconduct three years ago.

This site is mainted by Julie Rak. Please see the Counter-Letter page for the text of the letter, a list of signatories and a way to sign.

Report abuse