Weird Tales, Ann VanderMeer, and Utter Stupidity
Many of you may have seen the disappointing and sad and just plain stupid post by Marvin Kaye, editor of Weird Tales today---except wait! It was deleted (screen capture here). You may also have seen N.K. Jemisin's great post about it.Of course, there's also an apology, including this really blithe and stupid comment from the publisher (yeah, this is all hilarious, John):
John HarlacherReply08-20-2012Also, the website was hacked and he didn’t write that.No, that’s not true.
Ann VanderMeer, my wife, was the editor-in-chief before being forced out by Marvin Kaye and his financial backer John Harlacher. She tried to be a team player because they offered her a role picking one story by a new writer every issue. This appealed to her because of her ongoing commitment to up-and-coming writers and new voices---it seemed like she could still do some good work. But ever since a meeting with Kaye and Harlacher in New York in June, it had become obvious that she would be extremely uncomfortable working with them. Although they did not consult with her on editorial decisions, they did mention during that encounter that they planned to publish an excerpt from a YA novel written by the wife of a film director about "the last white person on the planet trying to survive in a world of black people." This seemed deeply problematic on the face of it, and Ann was kind---perhaps too kind---but adamant and firm in saying that they shouldn't do this. Ever. During this meal, a startling lack of understanding about international fiction and other subjects was also evinced, to the point that afterwards both Ann and I wished we had not stayed for the entire meal. It was one of the worst experiences we've ever had. Still, Ann believed that John Harlacher had gotten the point and that perhaps a lesson had been learned. Clearly not.Ever since that evening, Ann has been planning her departure, complicated by a few previous commitments to writers. Kaye's plan to go ahead with publishing this excerpt has led to this statement of resignation on Ann's part. I know from talking to her today that she is deeply upset about this entire situation---that it troubles her greatly and it also is personally devastating given that the new vision for Weird Tales seems to be so against everything that she envisioned for the future of the magazine. I am just quite frankly livid and utterly enraged.We are also sickened by the fact we all didn't just walk out of that dinner, the situation complicated by the fact that no one could hear what everyone else was saying and so none of us had the full picture until afterwards. We are clear on the fact that such a situation will never happen again.This is Ann's statement in leaving Weird Tales in any capacity.
Due to major artistic and philosophical differences with the existing editors, I have resigned from Weird Tales as a senior contributing editor, effective immediately. This resignation has been in the works for several months, ever since I was removed as the editor-in-chief, but was delayed by my commitment to writers whose work I had accepted for the magazine and to whom I felt a responsibility. I will, as always, continue to be an advocate for exciting new writers at Weirdfictionreview.com and my various anthologies.