Sarah Harte: Should we discard works of artists accused of unthinkable things?

Neil Gaiman has denied allegations of sexual misconduct made by nine women.

Terry Prone wrote an interesting article on Monday about the problems arising from the veneration of public figures. She suggested that it can lead to us applying different standards of etiquette or morality or turning a blind eye to questionable behaviour.

It made me consider the problem in the context of revered writers. Putting writers on a pedestal can result in unhealthy power imbalances between writers and their readers — two prominent writers who have been in the news spring to mind.