Roxane Gay has one of the most noteworthy writers and authors in today’s market. She’s received critical acclaim for both her non-fiction works, such as her Bad Feminist essay collection, and her fiction, which included An Untamed State that’s currently being turned into a film adaptation. She’s also Marvel Comic’s first ever Black, female writer.

If all of this wasn’t enough to confirm that she’s incredible, she recently took a grand stand against the “alt-right” movement.

Gay’s next book was meant to be released by TED Books, which is an imprint of Simon & Schuster. But Gay found out that the publisher recently signed a deal with Milo Yiannopoulous, a known leader of the radical “alt-right” movement.

She then decided to pull her book as to not support a publisher that would support someone like Yiannopoulous.

Read her full statement below, via Buzzfeed News:

When the announcement about Milo’s book first came out, I was relieved because I thought I didn’t have a book with Simon & Schuster and tweeted something to that effect. Then I remembered my TED Book and that TED is an imprint of Simon & Schuster. I was supposed to turn the book in this month and I kept thinking about how egregious it is to give someone like Milo a platform for his blunt, inelegant hate and provocation. I just couldn’t bring myself to turn the book in. My editor emailed me last week and I kept staring at that email in my inbox and finally over the weekend I asked my agent to pull the book.

Though TED Books and Threshold are vastly different imprints, they both reside within Simon & Schuster and so I guess I’m putting my money where my mouth is. And to be clear, this isn’t about censorship. Milo has every right to say what he wants to say, however distasteful I and many others find it to be. He doesn’t have a right to have a book published by a major publisher but he has, in some bizarre twist of fate, been afforded that privilege. So be it. I’m not interested in doing business with a publisher willing to grant him that privilege. I am also fortunate enough to be in a position to make this decision. I recognize that other writers aren’t and understand that completely.

The editor of TED Books is Michelle Quint. I don’t think Michelle is an employee of Simon & Schuster. She works for TED. She is, from my experience thus far, smart, kind, patient, and committed to putting good books into the world.

Photo Courtesy: RoxaneGay.com

Author

  • Keith Reid-Cleveland is a proud product of Chicago's Southside and the Missouri School of Journalism. The Black Youth Project News Editor has written about politics, race and entertainment for multiple publications, such as Uproxx, The Undefeated, Black Nerd Problems, Comic Book Resources and more.