How the Giller Prize Became Associated with Genocide

A barnburner in the Walrus about the controversy around the Giller Prize.

Filed under: canada, giller prize, josiah neufeld, literature, walrus

In The Walrus magazine, Josiah Neufeld writes about the controversy around the GIller Prize. It’s full of insight and drama, and even if you don’t care much about Canadian Literature, it’s an interesting read. For example:

One of the first [signees of this open letter] was Omar El Akkad, whose 2021 Giller-winning novel, What Strange Paradise, examined the violence and misery experienced by refugees crossing the Mediterranean. El Akkad says he didn’t attend the November gala because he wasn’t feeling celebratory given the catastrophe unfolding in a part of the world where he grew up. He was shocked when he learned about Scotiabank’s Elbit connection.

But the Giller Prize’s response—or lack thereof—left El Akkad feeling betrayed. “If you are in support of the slaughter in Gaza, put out a statement saying so. If you are opposed, put out a statement saying that,” he says. “Because I guarantee you that either one of those statements, no matter how loud it might seem, is not as deafening as the silence we’ve gotten from the Giller, Hot Docs, and the slew of cultural organizations that have decided that it’s only worth being brave when there are no consequences attached.”

It’s a very straightforward request from these authors, and it isn’t about picking sides in a conflict, it’s about making investments that represent your values. And there’s a wild nugget at the end (emphasis mine):

Here’s an even better way to avoid embarrassment, says El Akkad: cut ties with a company that builds weapons being used to kill children. “I don’t think that’s a very onerous request,” he told me. If Scotiabank won’t divest from Elbit, the Giller could walk away from the sponsorship. Yes, it would mean a smaller, less glitzy prize, but it would be a prize with more integrity, as author Shani Mootoo pointed out in the Toronto Star. When Jack Rabinovitch launched the Giller Prize, there was no big corporate sponsor. The winning book still sold three times as many copies as it would have otherwise. The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction comes with a mere $15,000 (US), yet it cements a writer’s career.

It’s always surprising to me how much hand-wringing happens when protests are disruptive. That’s the whole point, and they frequently work! And it’s working here too:

Reuters recently revealed that, in March, Scotiabank quietly divested itself of half its stock in Elbit, reducing the value of its shares to $237.6 million.

There’s so much more in the piece. Read it in full here.