How the Scottish Poetry Library bullying row is getting worse – Laura Waddell

The Scottish Poetry Library, an institution built with love, talent and ambition, appears to be in trouble amid claim and counter-claim about bullying, writes Laura Waddell.
Jackie Kay, the Makar, pictured at the Scottish Poetry Library, was among the signatories of a letter expressing a ‘real sense of concern’ about its direction and managementJackie Kay, the Makar, pictured at the Scottish Poetry Library, was among the signatories of a letter expressing a ‘real sense of concern’ about its direction and management
Jackie Kay, the Makar, pictured at the Scottish Poetry Library, was among the signatories of a letter expressing a ‘real sense of concern’ about its direction and management

It’s difficult to imagine a more self-defeating statement than that put out by Scottish Poetry Library management last week, claiming it was seeking to “build and foster a collegiate literature sector” after “an escalation” of “disharmony”, listing bullying and no-platforming as reasons. They say they “will not be passive if we are made aware of behaviours which do not align with our values”. For a declaration on the literature sector as a whole, it was notably unilateral.

Mentioning freedom of speech invokes high principles. But it’s difficult to square with a statement so vague as to how writers will face action. Which writer will be the first to experience the library’s lack of passivity? Perhaps someone must first experience the penalty for the rest of us to find out what it entails. Neither the process by which complaints can be made is illuminated, nor who will sit on the jury passing judgement. The mechanism is secretive, alienating anyone who doesn’t already have their ear.

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In likelihood, the threat of action is hollow. Standing up to bullying sounds good at surface level. Easy to like. But it’s difficult to see earnest attempts to de-escalate sector schisms here, Rather, they are entrenched further. Institutions issuing threats doesn’t make for a collegiate environment, facilitate discussion or build trust. A library should not act as judge and jury in secret trials, enacting the very exclusion they claim to condemn.

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Literary feuding exists wherever there is a literary culture; it emerges from somewhere vulnerable in the very personal process of writing, and from ordinary ego, jealousy, insecurity, paranoia and prejudice. The compact scale of Scotland’s literary establishment makes it particularly ripe for friction. It’s easy for people to feel squeezed out of that small space and not everyone wants to work together. Publicly funded institutions taking sides can only makes things worse.

Ramifications are already seen in comments by some early career LGBT poets who say the statement has made them feel unwelcome. What a tragedy. A library should be a joyful, welcoming place, particularly for those marginalised elsewhere. Last week BBC Scotland’s The Social disclosed non-binary poet Gray Crosbie had been met with hours of abuse. Yet there was no special statement for this clearly demonstrable case of a Scottish poet being attacked for performing.

With the statement widely speculated to have been inspired by online tussles where some allege transphobia and others allege no-platforming, it’s striking that the library which says it isn’t taking a side mentions only no-platforming. It also places the library in a bind; if no-platforming is happening, the library has pledged to act. But weighing in on professional disagreements could easily embroil them in legal matters. And how dedicated will the library be to opposing no-platforming if what is being protested is prejudice or abuse of some sort? Freedom of speech does not mean not freedom from consequences or protest. From a policy perspective, it’s a mess.

But for some familiar with the inside of the library, this statement is only the latest incident of senior management eroding trust in this national institution. The bigger picture here is that brandishing a code of conduct loudly clashes with allegations of workplace bullying and the rapid turnover of staff which have plagued the tenure of Asif Khan, director since 2016. As it turns out, what happens at the library doesn’t just stay at the library.

The SPL is a tangible space for poets to congregate around. When it comes to archiving our national literature and facilitating opportunities for our writers and their expression, such a resource is plays a serious role. So it’s particularly galling that in recent years, the most revered living poets in Scotland have severed associations with the library in protest at how things are being run. Just a few months ago, honourary presidents, including former Makar Liz Lochhead, resigned in protest, saying “we have done so because we are deeply unhappy with the current management and governance of the library”; others such as Jackie Kay and Carol Ann Duffy have also signed open letters of concern. Former staff members have spoken out about a “toxic working environment” and “systemic management failures” of the last few years, during which 13 female members of staff have left. In response, Khan has claimed he is the one being bullied – under the new SPL statement, will his own critics be banned?

This is a good point at which to note the board at SPL is 75 per cent male, a shocking statistic anywhere, but particularly for a public body which receives significant public funding – from Creative Scotland, £950,000 for the years 2015-2018, and £902,500 for 2018-2021.

Many involved poets feel despondent by recent events, seeing it as management flexing power having faced little accountability. Nothing will happen, they typically say, feeling that despite the high-profile criticisms and best efforts of the poets advisory board to effect change, nothing has happened so far.

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Workers in the precarious arts industry, as any other, deserve respect and fair treatment. Poets, I’m sure, mostly want to get on with their job of creating and communicating without the whole sector being dragged into hot-headed interpersonal conflicts. The Scottish Poetry Library belongs to Scotland. It was built with love, dedication, talent, and ambition. It must be looked after this way.

So I’m asking, when it comes to taking a stance on bullying, just why has nothing been done about this? Is the wider literary community, collegiate or not, going to ignore that workers at a national institution in our sector have complained of an unbearable environment and poets, established and early alike, continue to walk away? Will we applaud for platitudes on freedom of speech while there is notable silence from staff there? Can another round of regular funding from Creative Scotland be justified if nothing changes? And will the Scottish Parliament’s Culture Committee take interest in this important national resource jettisoning staff and poets?

In a statement, former staff described the library as adrift. Now it needs an anchor.

This article has been edited to state that the Scottish Poetry Library board is 75 per cent male, rather than 87.5 per cent

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