Resolution In Geist Dispute

My dispute with Geist Magazine comes to an end

A photograph I published in Geist circa 2000, now restored to their website

Note to Readers: Galloway v. A.B. is scheduled for trial in October 2026. I will update you all once more information is available. In the meantime I share the following news.

Dear Readers,

As many of you know, I received my first publication as a writer in Geist Magazine circa 1997 and subsequently maintained close ties with the magazine throughout the majority of my literary career.

In August of 2019, Geist received a complaint about me that, in my view, contained a number of unfounded accusations related to the publication of my article, "A Literary Inquisition: How Novelist Steven Galloway WasSmeared as a Rapist, Even as the Case Against Him Collapsed," published by the Australian online magazine Quillette. Anyone who has followed my writing on the Galloway case knows that the public and private dialogue around the case has, at times, been divisive, if not vitriolic.

Following the complaint and an unfortunate series of misunderstandings, Geist removed me from their list of contributing editors and later removed all my writing from their website.

I am writing to report that my work has now been restored to the Geist website and that Geist has published a statement regarding my involvement with the magazine, which you can read below.

Additionally, Geist will be implementing a complaint policy to ensure there is a policy in place to deal with future concerns. This strengthens Geist as a magazine and is an act of leadership that will hopefully also benefit the literary community as a whole.

The path to resolving this matter was at times difficult, but I can say unconditionally that it was brought to a close in large part due to the integrity of those at Geist, particularly their former Publisher, AnnMarie MacKinnon. Ms.MacKinnon is a fine editor and a promoter of the arts in Canada, and I wish her and Geist nothing but the best moving forward. They have restored my respect and confidence in them, and I thank them very much.

Geist Statement

“Geist magazine was launched in 1990 by our founders, Stephen Osborne and Mary Schendlinger. In the mid-1990s, Brad Cran was a contributor and volunteer at the magazine, and he played an important role in Geist's formative years. Mr. Cran became a long-time supporter of the magazine and we continued to publish Mr. Cran's work in the magazine into the 2010s.

In 2021, Mr. Cran's work was removed from the Geist website. The removal stemmed from a misunderstanding related to a request he had made. However, Mr. Cran perceived the removal of his content from our website as a form of blacklisting, which was not the case. We want to emphasize that Geist does not support blacklisting or silencing individuals.

The removal of his work was purely an editorial decision, and we regret that it was perceived differently.

This misunderstanding led to an allegation of a breach of contract. We have recently reached a settlement that addressed Mr. Cran's concerns. As part of the resolution, we are developing a complaint policy to prevent such misunderstandings from happening in the future, and we have republished Mr. Cran's work on the Geist website.

Editorial choice is important to Geist. We curate a Canadian essence, a certain spirit that we are very proud of publishing. Mr. Cran's work in Geist was part of that, and we value our past editorial decisions to print his work.”

---

Click here to read Science Fiction first published in Geist Magazine.

New subscribers can Click here for more context on Canadian Writers standing up for due process.