Literary festivals feel miles away from the world of geopolitics, but perhaps this is not always the case. A book festival is a place to become immersed in a fictional universe; however, it is becoming harder to ignore the harsh realities underpinning this fiction. Recently, a scandal involving dozens of book festivals and the Edinburgh-based investment firm Baillie Gifford has brought the question of literary festival sponsorship to the front page.
Baillie Gifford was a leading sponsor of many high-profile literary festivals, including the likes of Hay and Edinburgh. However, since the literary organisation Fossil Free Books brought it to public attention that Baillie Gifford was investing in fossil fuels, the company has been dropped from numerous festival sponsorships. Fossil Free Books further criticised Baillie Gifford’s investment in Israeli companies and urged the company to cease these investments. While it is positive that book festivals seem to care about their moral standpoint when it comes to their sponsors, it can’t be denied that this loss of investment comes as a huge blow, especially to smaller festivals.
Literary festivals rely on sponsorship to be able to run, and that’s an inescapable fact. But when fiction becomes tied up in geopolitics, it begs the question how far is too far? Should a literary festival drop any and all sponsors that do not align with their code of morals? It doesn’t take much digging to find a scandal behind many festivals. For example, Book Week Scotland is sponsored by an investment company, Badenoch & Co. Some quick googling reveals that the founder of this company donated large sums of money to the Conservative party, before being appointed as Scotland Office minister by Boris Johnson. This led to accusations of cronyism, and the exemplification of what SNP spokesperson Stewart Hosie called “the sleaze at the heart of the UK government”.
The truth of the matter is that literary festivals, especially those like Hay and Edinburgh, are highly publicised events, and that includes the details of who their sponsors are. Therefore, these festivals have a responsibility to be aware of the moral implications behind their sponsors. While a case of accused cronyism in the British government may be able to be overlooked, large-scale geopolitical issues, like fossil fuel investment, certainly can’t be. Literary festivals do not exist in a vacuum, and whether we like it or not, sometimes the fictional world must become tied up in the geopolitical world.
“Edinburgh Festival Fringe” by martie1swart is licensed under CC BY 2.0.