Romance-writer group cancels awards

— The Romance Writers of America has called off its annual awards as the organization remains in turmoil over allegations that it has failed to address criticism for lack of diversity.

In announcing the cancellation of the RITA Awards, the RWA noted that numerous authors and judges had dropped out. The Texas-based trade association has thousands of members.

“The contest will not reflect the breadth and diversity of 2019 romance novels/novellas and thus will not be able to fulfil its purpose of recognizing excellence in the genre,” according to a note posted this week on the RWA website.

“For this reason, the Board has voted to cancel the contest for the current year.”

Romance author Racheline Maltese tweeted that the RWA had made a “good, responsible decision,” but added “Let’s be clear — the reason the RITAs would not have reflected the breadth and diversity of the genre is not due to marginalized authors withdrawing but due to actions by RWA that rendered such choices necessary.”

During the holiday season, the RWA infuriated many in the romance community by initially reprimanding author Courtney Milan for tweeting that Kathryn Lynn Davis’ 1999 book Somewhere Lies the Moon was racist. The association reversed its decision, but not in time to prevent an uproar that led to the resignation of president Carolyn Jewell and several board members.