Led by Gurba, who has written about the threat to her life she received after publishing her critical review of American Dirt, authors have now come together to reveal the multiple death threats they have received for their writing in a “ death quilt”. When asked for confirmation, Flatiron insisted on the accuracy of the statement they issued in January, which described “specific threats to booksellers and the author” that constituted “real peril to their safety”. Not in America,” tweeted Stephen King, an early fan of American Dirt, in response.īut the Latinx group Dignidad Literaria, which was formed by writers in response to the controversy, claimed that while critics of Cummins’ work have received death threats, Flatiron had admitted the author herself had received none. “We don’t threaten writers with violence.
Cummins’ publisher Flatiron cancelled her tour in late January, citing “threats of physical violence”.