RWA files for bankruptcy — and doubles down on racism
If you read romance blogs or a select few news outlets, you may seen the announcement by now: Romance Writers of America (RWA) has filed for bankruptcy, and they are blaming their financial woes on DEI instead of their own racism and mismanagement.
The story initially showed up in Reuters, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and Publishers Weekly. I’m honestly not sure who broke it first, but I believe it was Reuters, whose opening sentence began with a pair of stereotypes straight out of the 1980s: “Hang up the ripped bodices, give Fabio the bad news and cue the lawyers: the Romance Writers of America, a nonprofit devoted to helping romance writers build their careers, is headed to bankruptcy court.”
All the initial reports seem to have taken their spin from what RWA said in their filing:
Subsequently, predominantly due to disputes concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues between some members of a prior RWA board and others in the larger romance writing community, membership decreased to approximately 3,000. Due to COVID concerns, the Debtor held its annual conference virtually in 2020 and 2021, and subsequently its membership reduced further. RWA was able to postpone its obligations to the respective Conference Centers these two years by agreeing to add two future years to the applicable Conference Center Contract to 2028.
Romance Writers of America bankruptcy filing
Bloomberg’s initial headline and URL were particularly problematic: “Romance Writer’s Group Goes Bankrupt After DEI Fight Around Courtney Milan.” After outrage from some prominent writers and bloggers (see context links, below), Bloomberg changed the headline to “Romance Writers Group Goes Bankrupt After Diversity Fight Decimates Ranks,” but they don’t appear to have changed the URL. I’m not sure if they altered the article itself, but it appears they might have. Bloomberg’s original article, as well as those of Publishers Weekly and The Guardian, made it sound like Courtney Milan was at fault in 2019/2020, when she called another writer’s book out for its racist stereotypes of Chinese women. (She was not; again, see the context links below.)
RWA’s bankruptcy filing clearly blames what they refer to as DEI disputes for their financial troubles. To be sure, RWA’s censure of Milan and its subsequent mishandling of its members’ outrage, along with many other writers’ stories of experiencing racism within RWA, did set off a mass exodus of writers and chapters from RWA. At the time, RWA was already facing financial difficulties because of the convention contracts they had committed to; their falling numbers made the problem worse. Now it appears that the current RWA leaders, in their bankruptcy filing, are still blaming Milan and DEI efforts instead of owning up to their own internal problems… including not only poor financial decisions but a history of racism in the organization’s awards that continued after Milan and others resigned. (It’s worth noting here that Steamy Lit Con, which celebrates diversity in romance, is doing quite well.)
But as the couple writing as Ilona Andrews points out, “Courtney Milan didn’t ruin RWA. RWA ruined RWA because they failed to evolve.” (emphasis mine)
Below are two of the aforementioned articles that aren’t behind a paywall:
- Romance Writers of America Files for Bankruptcy (Publishers Weekly)
- Romance Writers of America files for bankruptcy amid bitter racism battle (The Guardian)
For more context and analysis, check out the following
- RWA: New Award, New Bankruptcy Filing (Laura Vivanco, Teach Me Tonight blog)
- And also Laura Vivanco’s thoughtful post on the Milan controversy back in Dec. 2019, entitled “Racism, Literary Criticism and a ‘Safe and Respectful Environment’.” Make sure to read through Vivanco’s excellent responses to reader’s comments, which include a number of interesting and useful links. (Laura Vivanco, Teach Me Tonight blog)
- RWA has Filed for Bankruptcy, And You’ll Never Guess “Why” (Sarah, at Smart Bitches Trashy Books) – SB Sarah is filled with righteous rage (and she’s not wrong.)
- Sarah had a lot to say back in 2019, too, when the row over Courtney Milan first became public — and she brought the receipts in the form of the original complaints and statements. WTAF, RWA: Courtney Milan Banned, Suspended From RWA (Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Dec. 2019)
- RWA goes bankrupt; it’s not DEI, it’s the bigotry and racism. (Azteclady @ Her Hands, My Hands blog) This post from May 30, 2024, also brings context and receipts, with lots of screenshots of various writers’ tweets from back in 2019/2020.
- White romance novelist in racism row says she was used. Back in 2020, in the midst of the row over Milan, The Guardian reported that the woman who submitted the ethics complaint against Milan said she was encouraged to do so, and that “her original complaint about the professional harm she suffered was not accurate.”
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
Such a ridiculous mess. I really, really hate it when people are racist and then instead of honestly apologizing for it double down and try to argue it away. (I hate it when people are racist, period, but I know that some people are trying to be better and I can’t get mad about that part.)
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Bookworm
I’ve heard about this but haven’t read up on it yet. Thanks for the links! It makes it easier to find out what’s going on.
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