37 authors in possible contention for the $100,000 Giller prize withdrew their novels over the ties that the prize’s sponsors have to the Israeli military and occupation.
Thirty-seven authors with novels eligible for the $100,000 Giller Prize withdrew their books from the competition this year.
“As authors, we cannot abide our work being used to provide cover for sponsors actively investing in arms funding and Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians,” reads a letter signed by the authors, part of the CanLit Responds campaign.
“As long as the Giller Foundation continues to receive funding from ANY sponsors who are directly invested in Israel’s occupation of Palestine, it will still be complicit in genocide.”
The lead sponsor, Scotiabank, remains a major investor in Israeli weapons-maker Elbit Systems, though it has reduced its stake under public pressure.
Bookstore giant Indigo, another sponsor, is owned by Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman who also run a charity, HESEG, that donates millions to scholarships for former Israeli lone soldiers.
And Giller sponsor the Azrieli Foundation draws much of its money from the Sonol chain of gas stations in the occupied West Bank.
Former nominees have come out in support of the campaign, along with three past winners: David Bergen (2005 winner for The Time in Between), Omar El Akkad (2021, Such Strange Paradise) and Sarah Bernstein (2023, Study for Obedience). (more...)
The No Arms in the Arts Book List
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