Irish writer John Boyne has - and we swear this is completely real - tweeted out a bizarre poem apparently attacking gay journalist Owen Jones over his public support for lesbian, gay, bi, and trans people.
The poem is very very very exceedingly not good.
The poem is very very very exceedingly not good.
Owen Jones receives relentless abuse and harassment from "Gender Critical" activists due to his sexuality and vocal support for LGBTQ+ people. He has been attacked in the street by far-right homophobes.
John Boyne is that guy who apologised to Glinner.
John Boyne is that guy who apologised to Glinner.
https://twitter.com/BadWritingTakes/status/1699089969615131122
John Boyne suggests that he penned his assault on literature in response to Owen Jones explaining why the term "homosexual" is disliked by many gay people due to its history, which Boyne sneers at.
Boyne has also written about how being described as queer is traumatising to him.
Boyne has also written about how being described as queer is traumatising to him.
@OwenJones84 You may have noticed from the fourth image in the above post that this is not in fact what John Boyne looks like, making its inclusion all the more surreal.
What does "Glad to help" mean here?
The whole image gives the impression that he's about to start hawking NFTs.
What does "Glad to help" mean here?
The whole image gives the impression that he's about to start hawking NFTs.
@OwenJones84 There are so many dreadful parts to this poem - literally all of it, in fact - that it's hard to pick out individual lines for critique.
However, it has to be highlighted - again! - that the guy calling a gay journalist abusive has just been endorsing Graham "Glinner" Linehan.
However, it has to be highlighted - again! - that the guy calling a gay journalist abusive has just been endorsing Graham "Glinner" Linehan.
@OwenJones84 Boyne describing LGBTQ+ people as "crazy troglodytes" is obviously pretty awful.
But oof, not as awful as that horrendous final rhyming couplet.
Jesus Christ, John, show some self-respect. This has your name on it. Or your weird knock-off Mii avatar thing anyway.
But oof, not as awful as that horrendous final rhyming couplet.
Jesus Christ, John, show some self-respect. This has your name on it. Or your weird knock-off Mii avatar thing anyway.
The final stanza, where John Boyne (aged 52) seems to make a pass at Owen Jones is genuinely very creepy.
It's very, very weird to describe a gay man you've been demeaning as "cute" and suggest he should go out for a drink with you but must be seen and not heard.
It's very, very weird to describe a gay man you've been demeaning as "cute" and suggest he should go out for a drink with you but must be seen and not heard.
I don't know why Boyne included Owen's age in the title of his poem but it makes that last stanza feel so much more objectifying.
The rest of the poem is just bad writing and bigotry, but this is not an appropriate way for an older man to talk to someone without their consent.
The rest of the poem is just bad writing and bigotry, but this is not an appropriate way for an older man to talk to someone without their consent.
But while it may quite possibly be the worst poem that anyone, anywhere, has ever written, it is still not quite the worst thing that Irish writer John Boyne has ever written.
Because at least it didn't involve misrepresenting the Holocaust to children.
Because at least it didn't involve misrepresenting the Holocaust to children.
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