In Conversation with Sibyl Ruth

In early 2022, Sibyl Ruth was working for Cornerstones Literary Consultancy as one of their ‘core editors’. Odd things began to happen in May when she was informed that her client no longer required her services. Sibyl then found out that her profile had been removed from the Cornerstones Editors’ page. The next thing she knew, the company had halted any work that Sibyl was doing for them and had effectively terminated her. Ultimately a Subject Access Request revealed that a member of staff had objected to Sibyl’s gender critical views as expressed on Twitter. This was a total shock for Sibyl since, although she is a principled and proud feminist, she has always been open to discussion, debate and compromise; but her termination by Cornerstones was sudden and brutal. On the advice of friends, Sibyl contact the Free Speech Union where she quickly realised that that she wasn’t alone and that this was part of a larger pattern; what listeners will recognise immediately as cancel culture or, in this case, the new ‘purification’ of the publishing world. Towards the end of our conversation, and following the controversy at Calderdale library services, we touch on the latest trend of certain local authorities hiding books that don’t align with current ideology. Sibyl provides some helpful context to the phenomenon, explaining how library workers are often caught in a bind (pun intended!) where customer facing staff may be left to cope with little to no relevant training. If any listeners would like to support Sibyl, then do visit her crowd funder. As Sibyl emphasises during the episode, she is hugely grateful to every single person who has helped her in this campaign.