The three poetry editors at the Boston Review, Timothy Donnelly, B.K. Fischer, and Stefania Heim, have stepped down after the magazine decided to retain Junot DÃaz, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct and verbal abuse. After women spoke out against DÃaz, the magazine reviewed their relationship with the author, who has served as a fiction editor there since 2003, and concluded, “On the basis of what we have learned, we have decided to continue our editorial relationship with Junot.†The magazine added that they had not received any complaints about him and that “the objectionable conduct described in the public reports does not have the kind of severity that animated the #MeToo movement.â€
In response, the magazine’s three poetry editors announced their intention to resign, effective July 1. They released a statement of their own, saying, “What most distresses us are the letter’s apparent arbitration of what constitutes inclusion in the #MeToo movement and its lack of attentiveness to power dynamics in a star-driven media and publishing landscape.†In response, Boston Review editor Joshua Cohen told Publishers Weekly, “We think we have done the right thing. But that conviction, arrived at after long reflection and many conversations [with authors], does not remove our sadness at their decision to separate.â€