Thread by @qianjinghua

For months, the State Library of Victoria has been telling everyone that the cancellation of Teen Writing Bootcamp had nothing to do with Palestine or our social media posts. Well, we got our FOI request back. See for yourself. 🧵

Here’s SLV Board member Maxine McKew discussing @omarsakrpoet's blog posts with SLV CEO Paul Duldig on 13 Feb.

“We have a duty to be absolutely thorough and super careful about the way language is used by the people we engage,” she says.

The next day, 14 Feb, SLV asks staff to do “a quick scan of the social and media coverage of the other presenters” in this year’s bootcamp.

Here’s what they find for Alison, Ariel and me. @_budgie @cousineggplant @meaa4palestine

The email highlights our posts about Palestine, our retweets of content from @OverlandJournal and @jewishcouncilAU, as well as some of our other political views. Quite ironic that my posts about @antoinette_news are included.

On 16 Feb, McKew emails Duldig again. Most of the email is redacted but she says “we have a perfectly defensible position if we make the same demands of everyone - whether it’s younger writers doing teen boot camp”

Hmm.

Then on 19 Feb, Duldig reports he's read all of Omar’s Substack entries in detail.

“It is a reasoned argument, though controversial,” the minutes note. “On these grounds no reason not to proceed with the presenter.” But meetings are scheduled with the SLV board and Creative Vic.

These documents show that the State Library of Victoria actively surveilled our social media and cancelled our contracts on the basis of our political views. For months now they have knowingly lied to us and to the public about this blatant act of censorship.