American author V.E. Schwab has revealed that her Russian publisher removed an entire gay storyline from her Shades of Magic trilogy—without notifying her.
“The Russian edition of Shades of Magic has been my favourite. This week I learned that they redacted the entire queer plot w/out permission,” the writer tweeted.
“They chose to illegally edit and redact [it].
Schwab says she was only made aware of the changes after a Russian fan—who had read both editions—let her know that a crucial part of the story was missing.
“I’m positively devastated,” she added on Twitter.
“As a reader: I’m frustrated. As an LGBTQ+ human: I’m hurt. As an author: I’m indignant.”
The Russian publishing house responsible—Rosman—says the edits were made in line with the country’s anti-gay legislation that prohibits "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships".
“We only did this so that we wouldn’t violate the ban on gay propaganda for minors,” spokesperson Natalya Brovchuk told Vedomosti. “But we kept the romantic plotline as a whole.”
Schwab says that rather than censoring Shades of Magic, the publisher could have opted to put an 18+ label on the front of the books.
As a result, she says she has no option but to cancel the entire publishing contract with Rosman over the breach of trust.
“It’s important to me that the books be available to Russian readers, but with all their content,” she tweeted.
Schwab—who is a New York Times best-selling author—has always been committed to writing meaningful queer storylines.
“I'm dedicated to portraying LGBT characters, but never as an archetype/token. They are more than their sexuality just as I'm more than mine,” she tweeted in 2016.
The author is hopeful of finding a new Russian publisher who “is willing to do a better job”.
