Surviving the hissy fits of activists

er woo in the literary world. In October the Cheltenham Literary Festival highlighted “gender-critical views” as the kind of speech which should not be tolerated by decent literary folk, prompting JK Rowling to write on X: “Might start a literary festival where legal beliefs can be expressed from the stage without the chairpeople wetting themselves.”

Ah well. Let's hope the Oxford festival organisers are made of sterner stuff.