Kate Clanchy: How my memoirs were sullied to suit Twitter's woke agenda – The Telegraph

Of all the aspects of the recent attempt to cancel my work, the one that seems to fascinate most people is the moment when my publishers sent my Orwell Prize-winning memoirs, Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me, to be assessed by experts – sensitivity readers – who would detect and reform its problematic racism and ableism. Of course I cared. I’m horrified that people found prejudice and cruelty in my account of my 35-year teaching career, published in 2019. And I went into the process willingly: I’ve always enjoyed and benefited from editing and saw this as an extension. Last autumn, I did an initial rewrite – there were many things I was eager to change – and sent it off, full of interest and optimism. I received the reports on it before Christmas. They were never formally used and I share the content here – anonymously, of course – because sensitivity reads are being used more and more widely in publishing, and mine gives a valuable insight into how they might work. There are several reports – Picador did a thorough job – and they are varied. Some write A4 reports, others use the “comment” button…
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