A publisher and editor of Steven Galloway’s books testified at his defamation trial Tuesday, telling the court that the November 2015 rape accusations against the author derailed his writing career “almost overnight.”
asserted
accusations → testify → career
“We had to cancel festival engagements.
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We → have → engagements
Books were returned from the bookstores,” Louise Dennys told B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
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Dennys → return → Vancouver
“It was extraordinary and I had not seen that before.”
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I → see → that
Dennys testified from Toronto via videoconference.
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Dennys → testify → videoconference
Dennys is described as a “hands-on” editor of several famous authors including Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie.
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Dennys → describe → Atwood
Dennys described the 2015 public and unproven sexual assault allegations against Galloway as “inescapable in the media” and as having “blanketed the country, but obviously the literary community.”
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Dennys → describe → country
She told the court she went off social media in the wake of the allegations so that she could focus on her publishing requirements, but that it was “difficult to miss what was going on.”
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what → tell → requirements
She said she fielded numerous calls about Galloway “from publishers all over the world.”
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she → say → world
She described how bookstores didn’t want to display the author’s work, sent his books back to the publisher, and refused to do any re-orders.
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bookstores → describe → orders
A woman known only as A.B., due to a publication ban, accused the bestselling novelist and former University of British Columbia (UBC) professor of rape in 2015.
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woman → know → 2015
The two had what Galloway testified was a two-year, consensual affair.
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Galloway → have → ?
The unproven allegations were deemed not to have occurred by retired judge Mary Ellen Boyd, who investigated the matter on behalf of UBC.
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who → deem → UBC
Dennys said that she was involved in the editorial development of Galloway’s best-selling novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo and that she was then involved with editing, publishing, and marketing Galloway’s next novel, The Confabulist.
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she → say → novel
Dennys described Galloway as a writer she expected to “write through to a lifetime of publishing good books.”
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she → describe → books
She said that the release of Boyd’s report, which ostensibly exonerated Galloway, “gave us the hope that the thing would die away completely.”
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thing → say → hope
Her publishing house signed a contract with Galloway “pretty much immediately” after the Boyd report came out, she testified, though it emerged that the accusations against Galloway were not, in fact, going anywhere.
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accusations → sign → fact
Galloway “remained persona non grata,” said Dennys.
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Dennys → remain → ?
She described that her company attempted to wait, putting Galloway’s next project—a three-book detective series—on hold.
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company → describe → hold
However, said Dennys, Galloway eventually admitted that he was so traumatized by what had happened that he had totally lost the ability to write.
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he → say → ability
“It was one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve heard in my life as a publisher,” said Dennys.
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Dennys → hear → publisher
Under cross examination, A.B.’s lawyer, Sydney Gomez, questioned Dennys about the trajectory of Galloway’s literary career.
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lawyer → question → career
When asked about The Confabulist having less commercial success than The Cellist of Sarajevo, Dennys pointed out that it was not possible to market this book after A.B.’s allegations against Galloway went public.
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allegations → ask → Galloway
“No marketing has been done since the allegations on any of his books,” Dennys testified.
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Dennys → do → books
She also told the court that authors, as “part of the artistic process” will explore new directions in their writings after having a “spectacular success.”
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authors → tell → success
She told the court that book publishers often abide by a rule of thumb to let writers go after “three book flops in a row,” but that most authors face ups and downs in sales and critical reception.
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authors → tell → sales
Dennys described how “tall poppy syndrome” can cause critics to express disappointment when an author’s new book is not “doing the same thing” as a previous and extremely successful novel.
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book → describe → novel
Finally, she explained that The Confabulist “did not sell badly” and that the publisher “never knew how well it could sell because the paperback died in the water” following A.B.’s allegations.
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paperback → explain → allegations
Gomez also attempted to lead Dennys through Penguin Random House sales and royalty figures from Galloway’s books (earlier provided to the court by the plaintiff), which caused confusion for the witness and Justice Neena Sharma.
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which → attempt → witness
She finished her cross examination by asking Dennys to confirm that both she and the publishing house held Galloway in high regard and were supportive of him.
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she → finish → him
“One hundred per cent,” Dennys replied.
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Dennys → reply → ?
Galloway’s lawyer, Dan Burnett, spent a portion of the day reading transcripts from previous hearings into the record.
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lawyer → spend → record
This included testimony from Chelsea Rooney, one of the defendants who settled with Galloway — and issued a public apology — before the defamation trial began this month.
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trial → include → apology
In 2015, Rooney was “deputized” by UBC creative writing professors to find additional persons willing to accuse Galloway of wrongdoing.
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Rooney → deputize → wrongdoing
Burnett read aloud transcripts of testimony about phone calls Rooney made to other UBC students in November 2015, as well as a follow-up email that Rooney sent and which referenced Canadian Press journalist Laura Kane.
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which → read → Kane
(The court previously heard from a witness that Rooney had encouraged the persons she spoke with to report accusations against Galloway to the news media.)
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she → hear → media
As per the transcripts, Rooney admitted to telling the persons she contacted that Galloway stood accused of rape by A.B.
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Galloway → admit → A.B.
She also admitted to having no training in sexual assault investigation and to having not taken into consideration her independence when investigating Galloway.
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She → admit → Galloway
Justice Sharma also ruled on last week’s voir dire (trial within a trial) and will allow the entirety of Galloway’s expert report from Kevin Hanson, a literary agent and the former president of Simon & Schuster Canada, to be admitted to the court.
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entirety → rule → court
Sharma stated that the defence had “no basis to object to admissibility” of Hanson’s expert report, though she may consider its weight later in the trial.
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she → state → trial
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
