Demonstrators chant outside Giller gala to protest sponsors

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Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Giller Prize gala chanting and waving signs that demanded organizers of the lucrative book prize cut ties with some sponsors associated with Israel.

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Demonstrators gathered in front of a downtown Toronto hotel late Monday afternoon as the ceremony was about to begin, shouting at cars as they arrived, chanting “Free Palestine” and holding banners including “Boycott Giller Gala” while several uniformed police officers kept watch.

Poet and fiction writer Cassidy McFadzean said the group wanted to catch attendees as they entered a glitzy bash set to bestow a $100,000 fiction prize: “We do not accept partial divestments, and we do not accept the Giller Prize’s ignoring of our demands.”

The group known as CanLit Responds — working as part of a campaign called No Arms in the Arts — says members including authors and book industry workers set up a picket line and staged a “Boycott Giller” counter-gala outside the Toronto Park Hyatt Hotel.

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For the second year in a row, they turned up at the black-tie event to demand the Giller Foundation cut ties with corporate sponsors, including Scotiabank, due to its stake in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.

CanLit Responds organizers are also protesting funders Indigo, for its CEO’s charity that supports Israeli Defence Force officers from abroad, as well as the Azrieli Foundation, in part for its connection to Israeli real estate company Azrieli Group, which has a stake in Bank Leumi. The United Nations Human Rights Office has previously listed Bank Leumi among businesses involved in activities relating to settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Protester and author Farzana Doctor accused Scotiabank of “art-washing” amid Israel’s war in Gaza.

“What Scotiabank is doing is saying it doesn’t care about the genocide, and by extension, the Giller Prize is saying it doesn’t care about genocide,” said Doctor, noting concerns were raised a year ago when protesters disrupted last year’s televised bash.

“They had a year to respond. They could have dropped their funder. We can have literary awards without money, but you can’t have literary awards without authors.”

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The protest followed renewed criticism from former winner Madeleine Thien, who posted a letter on X over the weekend that asked prize organizers to remove her name, image and work from its website and promotional material over the controversy.

Addressed to the Giller foundation’s board of directors and advisory council, Thien said winning in 2016 for Do Not Say We Have Nothing was one of the “great happinesses of my life,” and began a long association with the Giller that included appearances at televised galas and literary events.

She said that all ends amid ongoing demands by many in the arts community that the Giller cut ties with leading sponsor Scotiabank over the bank’s investment in Elbit Systems.

“I respectfully request that my name and image and work be removed entirely from the Giller Prize website, and from any promotional material and videos. My work will no longer be submitted to the Giller Prize,” Thien says in a letter dated Thursday and posted to X on Saturday.

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Thien said Monday by email that two members of the advisory council “reached out with great kindness” and “one told me my wishes would be respected.”

Elana Rabinovitch, executive director of the Giller Prize, said the organization received the note and “will consider what steps can be taken moving forward.”

Reached early in the day, Rabinovitch declined to be interviewed, saying she was busy planning the gala, which was set to take place amid stricter security and no red carpet for media.

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Instead of airing live as in previous years, the ceremony was to be pre-taped for broadcast on CBC at 9 p.m.

Controversy over the prize came one year after pro-Palestinian demonstrators interrupted 2023’s televised ceremony and sparked later protests among hundreds of people in the arts community, including authors previously recognized by the Giller.

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Traditionally a highlight among Canadian literati, the annual black-tie affair typically attracts a celeb-studded audience and features performances and comedy bits.

Glamour has taken a back seat this year to months of turmoil that at times played out online and in media reports.

Thien’s letter details several complaints, including that Rabinovitch led her to believe through emails in spring 2024 the foundation wanted to separate from Scotiabank.

Thien said she offered to raise money to fund this year’s prize and that “a meaningful award for a winner and shortlist” was raised by “previous Giller winners” within three days.

She said she later learned through the media that the Giller was sticking with Scotiabank, but removing the sponsor’s name from the prize. Its contract expires at the end of next year.

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While Scotiabank’s subsidiary sold some of its shares in Elbit Systems earlier this year, the bank has denied the protest has had anything to do with the change.

Thien also said in her letter she has had to block Rabinovitch on social media “due to social media attacks.”

Rabinovitch did not respond to a direct question by email about the alleged social media tags.

The five shortlisted authors this year include Anne Fleming, for her novel Curiosities, Anne Michaels for Held, and Conor Kerr for Prairie Edge.

Deepa Rajagopalan is nominated for the short story collection Peacocks of Instagram, as is Eric Chacour for his novel What I Know About You, translated from the original French by Pablo Strauss.

The Israel-Hamas war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.

Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives since then have killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say. The officials don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but say more than half of those killed have been women and children.

— With files from Nicole Thompson

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