THE University of Queensland Press has rejected the option of publishing Campbell Newman’s memoir, insisting it would be a “betrayal” to the literary community and the publisher’s values to do otherwise.

In a short email to former MP Gavin King, who is penning Mr Newman’s book, UQP publisher Madonna Duffy said she believed the publisher had no choice but to reject it, due to Mr Newman’s decision as Premier to axe the Premier’s Literary Awards, with which UQP had been involved for many years.

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“It would be both a ­betrayal to the Queensland literary community and to our own values to publish his memoir,” Ms Duffy wrote.

The Newman government also controversially moved to cut funding to the publisher in 2013, but that decision was reversed.

Mr King slammed the publisher’s response, questioning how UQP could reject the proposal.

“I deliberately sent it to UQP because they are just about the only publisher left in Queensland,” he said.

“I would have thought their remit included Queensland authors and Queensland stories and this book is both of those things and it’s a significant chapter in Queensland’s history.

“Surely a publishing house run by a university, a place where free speech and all points of debate and politics are supposed to flourish, should consider a book project like this on its merits, rather than the partisan politics of a few personalities who run the place.

“For UQP to not even have read a single word of the project, it’s just gobsmacking to me, ­incredibly disappointing.”

Mr King said the publisher should not be influenced by the decisions of the Newman government.

“They are a publishing house, they are not a political outfit. It’s just an extraordinary political move and to me really petty.

“What’s the flip side to what they’ve done?

“If a government were to give them extra funding would they then give favourable treatment to the Premier who afterwards was proposing a book?”

media_camera Gavin King..

He said he was dealing with three interested publishers and was confident it would be published by the end of the year as planned.

UQP chief executive Greg Bain supported the decision, adding he did not see “sustained interest” in the book

“Whilst we did not see sustained interest in such a book with a likely publication date one year out; far more importantly we stand by our colleagues in the writing and reading community who have supported us and were enraged and insulted by the axing of the Literary Awards,” he said.

“The community response in keeping these awards alive demonstrated the depth of feeling out there in supporting such a vibrant writing sector in Queensland — the envy of other states.

“UQP has a long history of nurturing new voices and we are not in the business of damaging that hard-earned reputation.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she suspected there would be some interest in the book, despite UQ Press’ decision to dodge it.

“That’s a matter for UQ Press, but I’m quite sure there’d be a lot of people interested to read the former premier’s views on his term in government,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk also said she was “happy to give some consideration to” reinstating the Premier’s Literary Awards.

“I’ll be getting some further advice on that over the coming days,” she said.

“But at the moment, my priority is the cyclone-impacted communities.”

Ms Palaszczuk said literary awards were “very important” but she wanted to have further discussions with the arts community.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said individual publications should be considered on their own merits, “not the things that may have gone before”.

“We live in a country where we believe in freedom of speech, we believe that people should be able to say the things that they feel they should say, so that is a matter for individuals,” he said.

“The matter between the University of Queensland Press and former premier Cambpell Newman is a matter for them.

“All I would basically say is that regardless of anything that may have existed before, it’s appropriate that a particular publication or proposed publication be considered on its merits, not the things that may have gone before.”

UQP board chair Professor Joanne Wright issued a statement Thursday afternoon “clarifying” UQP’s decision to reject an approach to publish Mr Newman’s memoir.

She said the university was “disappointed” UQP told Mr King it was because of the cancellation of the literary awards.

Instead, she said the publisher would not have entered an agreement because at that stage there was no draft chapter or “other formal requirements for manuscript submissions”.

“UQP publishes a limited number of works each year and selects works based on a combination of factors, including the content, the quality of writing, the contribution to literature and the prospect they will be commercially viable,” Professor Wright said.

“UQP does not accept unsolicited manuscripts for works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and children’s and young adult literature, nor does it accept email approaches or pitches without a synopsis, chapter overview and sample chapters.”

“The fact that none of the requirements for manuscript consideration were met, the reality that political memoirs take a significant amount of time to complete, and the necessity to consider the integrity of such works and the prospect of their success all provided grounds for rejecting Mr King’s approach.

“It is unfortunate that this was not explained to Mr King.

“The University is disappointed that this (the cancellation of the literary awards) was stated as a reason and this has been communicated to UQP management in unambiguous terms,” she said.