Bullying claim and counterclaim leaves poetry library all at sea

A Scottish institution built with love, talent and ambition appears to be in trouble, writes Laura Waddell

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 judgment. The mechanism is secretive, alienating anyone who doesn’t already have their ear.

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.

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 noplatforming, 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