An anonymous book review website has been taken down weeks after it went live after threats were sent to the site’s presumed author, he has claimed. 

Writer and journalist David Samuel Hudson says he was involved in setting up the new Malta Literary Review website to support its creator but did not write any of the reviews.

“I reached out to this reviewer and asked them to take down the reviews because I was receiving threats,” Hudson told Times of Malta. 

After it went live on November 9, the website gained notoriety in the artistic community for its scathing reviews of local culture. One blog post was entitled 'Embarrassing Malta on the World Stage' while another described the book Mibdul as 'Comically Criminal'.

When a link to the website was posted to Facebook on Saturday by Brikkuni frontman Mario Vella, commenters instantly began to debate the ethics of having an anonymous reviewer and also the perceived negative slant the author/s mainly takes.

Within the discussion, claims that the anonymous author was Hudson arose. 

Hudson refuted the claims in the comments, yet that did not stop some from sending anonymous threats, calling him out for his reviews and threatening to hurt him and his girlfriend, Hudson said.

“I was so riddled with anxiety, I didn’t go to work,” Hudson said.

David Hudson says he received threats after amateur sleuths tried to find out who was behind the literary blog. Photo: David Hudson

Claims of Hudson’s authorship may be due to a technical mishap, the writer explained, as he recalled the author of the website anonymously approaching him at the end of October to contribute to the site.

Hudson declined as he did not want to venture into reviewing as a writer himself and wanted to be held up to the same scrutiny. But, believing in the idea, Hudson offered to help set up their website and social media account.

This meant that when their still-active Instagram account made its first post, it was automatically shared on Hudson’s Facebook.

“Since they saw it shared on my Facebook, they assumed it was me,” he said.

Hudson clarified that Malta is in dire need of cultural criticism and that this website was a step towards that.

'Superficial writing'

“While I still find the anonymity cowardly, the no-holds-barred approach is rather refreshing and pretty entertaining,” Vella wrote on Facebook.

Over 100 comments under Vella’s post discussed the website and its anonymous author or authors, yet the conversation focused on the efficacy of the blog’s “savage” writing in the context of its nameless author.

“I read through a few of the reviews and I found little value in them. It’s superficial writing with no real depth,” writer Mel Hart said.

Noting that she enjoyed the entertainment value of the posts, Hart explained that a named author would have made her see the page differently.

Others argued the opposite, claiming that the anonymity of the reviewer may be needed to function within the local landscape.

Yet the majority felt that website did not offer a critical space for Maltese literature.

“What we urgently NEED is informed, intelligent criticism that places work in its context, serves posterity and contributes to the artist's intent to produce excellent work,” theatre director Philip Leone-Ganado wrote on Facebook

This is the perfect example of why anonymity will not work, Leone-Gonado wrote, claiming that the posts do not add any meaningful conversation to artistic debates.

“Even if there were important points being made - and, to my mind, there are precious few here - what value do they serve without someone to stand behind and defend them? It may as well be spraypainted slogans on a bus stop,” he wrote.