 The editor, Tvardosky, equivocated and began to request cuts, so Solzhenitsyn arranged that the novel be distributed as "samizdat", then that it be discussed at a meeting in Moscow of the Central Writers' Club on 17 November 1966.Joseph Pearce writes that attendance was higher than usual.The club passed a resolution that it would assist Solzhenitsyn in getting "Cancer Ward" published.