The Royal Society of Literature has been plunged into chaos after two of its chiefs resigned following scandals.
Chairman Daljit Nagra and director Molly Rosenberg resigned from the 205-year-old charity after free speech disputes and accusations lowered its demands for a more “diverse” membership.
Their departures came just days before the club was due to hold its annual meeting, where fellows were expected to hold a vote of confidence in the pair.
Nagra has served four years as president of RSL after taking over the role from writer and author Lisa Appignanes in 2020. Rosenberg joined RSL as an intern in 2010 before becoming director in 2017.
The RSL has been accused of censoring members, including Appignanesi, now a free speech advocate, and former president Dame Marina Warner following the near-fatal stabbing of Salman Rushdie in 2022.
Warner had urged the society to “send a pledge of support” to Rushdie, but he and the Appignanes were allegedly prevented from doing so after being told that such a statement “might give offence”.
The club has also been accused of lowering its membership requirements as part of a “diversity” push and abandoning its requirement that candidates have at least two “outstanding written credits”.
Author Amanda Craig has even argued that “while the community used to be a bit too pale and male”, it is now “so diluted by younger writers with few books to their name that it’s not the distinction it used to be”. .
The Royal Society of Literature has been plunged into chaos after its two chiefs, Daljit Nagra (pictured) and Molly Rosenberg, resigned amid scandals.
Chairman Nagra and director Rosenberg (pictured) resigned from the 205-year-old charity after controversy over free speech and accusations it was lowering its standards to get a more “diverse” membership.
The RSL has been accused of censoring members following the near-fatal stabbing of Salman Rushdie (pictured) in 2022.
The charity also allegedly failed to show support for author Kate Clanchy after she was dropped by her publisher after she was accused of using racial stereotypes to describe some of her students.
In a separate incident, the publisher also told Clanchy that he could not refer to the Taliban as terrorists in one of his books because they now rule Afghanistan.
In March last year, around 70 RSL writers called an emergency meeting after its magazine was allegedly suspended because one article contained a passage that was “sympathetic to Palestine”.
The authors, which included Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan and Philip Pullman, wrote an open letter to The Times to express their concern about the “serious damage to the reputation” of the 200-year-old organisation.
They wrote: “The evidence appears strong that there was leadership involvement in the article, which contained a sympathetic section for the Palestinians.”
They added that action was needed to “heal the fissures that have opened in society” and called for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) “in the hope that the serious problem of censorship attempts can be resolved”.
But the society has denied that this was the reason why the magazine was pulled.
Then in July, the dispute escalated when 20 senior members of the institution vowed to boycott its summer party, the crown jewel of the group’s social calendar.
Writer and author Lisa Appignanesi (pictured) resigned as RSL chairman in 2020
The charity is also alleged to have failed to show any support to author Kate Clanchy (pictured) after she was dropped by her publisher after she was accused of using racial stereotypes to describe some of her pupils.
Margaret Atwood (pictured) was also among several RSL writers who called an emergency meeting after its magazine was allegedly suspended because one article contained a passage that was “sympathetic to Palestine”.
One party member described the chaos raging backstage to The Spectator: “It’s such a cluster***”. It’s such a cluster***. Everyone breaks up with everyone else.
After announcing the departure earlier this week, Nagra said: “It’s just unbelievable how much everyone hates each other. It’s like one of those long marriages that seem to have been perfectly happy… and then suddenly you realize they’ve both been seeing other people and calling lawyers.
Nagra said: “The RSL has made significant progress over the past four years with our increased outreach projects, many new awards, an extensive program of events and significantly improved attendance.”
“I am proud to oversee the first governance review in our 204-year history – an achievement that will improve governance and transparency for the future. I look forward to seeing the RSL continue to grow and flourish.
Rosenberg added: “I am very proud of all that I have achieved in my time at RSL, working for and with the brilliant writers across the Fellowship.
“I am particularly proud of all that has been achieved through the efforts of the Council over the years of my tenure and I am grateful for the dedication and imagination of the Trustees and the incredibly hardworking RSL management team.”
Nagra will step down as chairman during the general meeting on January 15, after which his position will be filled by an election.
Meanwhile, Rosenberg will leave RSL on March 31 at the same time.