Yahoo Finance JK Rowling to release book with publishing house threatened with walkouts over 'transphobia'
JK Rowling will release a new book with the publisher whose staff threatened to walk out over her stance on transgender issues.
The author was criticised last year by members of the transgender community and Harry Potter cast members, including Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, for claiming women and biological sex were being “erased”.
The subsequent release of her children's book The Ickabog through Hachette sparked an internal revolt at the publishing house, with some employees threatening to walk out over Rowling’s alleged transphobia,
Now the author is set to publish another children’s title through the same firm, with The Christmas Pig due to be released in autumn.
The story is described as a “heartwarming, page-turning adventure about one child’s love for his most treasured toy, and how far he will go to find it”.
Rowling has classified The Ickabog as a “fairy tale”, and The Christmas Pig has therefore been billed as her first children’s novel since the Harry Potter series.
Following controversy over the publication of Rowling’s work, Hachette last year said the house was “proud to publish” her writing.
A statement from the house added: “Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of publishing.
“We fundamentally believe that everyone has the right to express their own thoughts and beliefs. That’s why we never comment on our authors’ personal views and we respect our employees’ right to hold a different view.”
Ms Rowling has denied being transphobic, and explained following the online outrage at her comments that her views on biological sex and the welfare of women stem from her own experience of domestic abuse.
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