You Are Believed / A Statement on Plagiarism by a Half Mystic Author

On February 23rd, an anonymous source made public a 13-page document of evidence showing that Rona Wang—a Half Mystic author—had plagiarised work by a startling number of her peer writers in overlapping literary circles. This document cited ten distinct cases of plagiarism, including of sentence-level descriptors, worldbuilding details, plot points, characters, & broader narrative structures.

In 2019, Half Mystic Press published Rona’s debut short story collection, Cranesong. This was only the third book we released, & our first work of prose. We’re a small & independent press run by ten young women & nonbinary people, supported solely by reader sales. Half Mystic has always been a project of love for us, & the process of editing, designing, publishing, & marketing Cranesong was no different.

So, while we do everything in our power to background check our authors before we sign contracts, this revelation came as a shock & betrayal to our team. Rona Wang was someone who many of us at Half Mystic considered a friend, & we’ve long admired her public commitment to denouncing plagiarism in the literary community. We carefully examined the document from the anonymous source, reviewing every case, & concluded that Rona has consistently plagiarised the work of literary peers, including in several of the stories published in Cranesong.

As important as integrity in publishing is to us, consent from victims is our first priority. To that end, we reached out to the plagiarised authors cited most often in the evidentiary document. Their input was foundational to any action we could take. Two of those writers came back to us, & after discussing options with them, we’ve decided to pull Cranesong from print & distribution.

We offered both writers the option of penning a public statement, in an attempt to give them the same platform we had unknowingly granted a plagiarist. Christina Qiu shared the following:

I support Half Mystic’s decision to cease publication of Cranesong, a chapbook by Rona Wang that includes stories with elements—such as character names, plot points, story structures, and language—plagiarized from my short stories. My support should be viewed as part of an effort to urge young writers to behave empathetically when interacting with the manuscripts of their peers, think twice about the similarities between their and peer manuscripts, and take seriously the importance of trust in creating healthy writing communities.

Half Mystic is committed to upholding the highest standards of originality, integrity, & literary citizenship in our authors & the work we publish. We refuse to allow behaviour like this to continue unchecked in our community. To that end, effective immediately, Rona Wang’s short story collection Cranesong has been removed from print & distribution. It will not be available for sale on any channels moving forward. 

We thank those who stepped up & brought this matter to our attention—in particular, the anonymous writer of the evidence document, for their emotional labour & courage in coming forward. We want the victims to know that you always have a place with Half Mystic. Your stories have a place here. You are believed.

Finally, we urge the other literary organisations affiliated with Rona Wang—including Pitch Wars, as well as Simon & Schuster—to publicly condemn her plagiarism. There is no place for this behaviour to live alongside the art & joy that Half Mystic champions. Thank you for your support as we work to keep our community safe.