(Toronto) A second author has withdrawn from this year’s Scotiabank Giller Prize jury because the organization refused to sever ties with its title sponsor.
Indian novelist Megha Majumdar has followed Ethiopian-American author Dinaw Mengestu in resigning from the jury that awards the $100,000 literary prize.
With the two international jurors having dropped out, only the three Canadian judges remain: authors Noah Richler and Kevin Chong and singer-songwriter Molly Johnson.
M’s resignationsme Majumdar and Mr. Mengestu’s arrests come as a growing group of writers call on the Giller Foundation to divest from Scotiabank over its investments in an Israeli arms manufacturer.
Giller CEO Elana Rabinovitch said last week that the board discussed the growing pressure but decided to keep the bank as a sponsor because “the foundation is not a political tool.”
Many authors have also withdrawn their work from this year’s prize due to Scotiabank’s funding, including writers Fawn Parker, who was shortlisted for the prize in 2022, and Michelle Winters, who was on the 2017 shortlist.
Still others, who are not in the running for this year’s award because they did not publish within the eligibility window, have signed a letter calling on Giller to stop accepting money from Scotiabank and all sponsors who are “directly invested in Israel’s occupation of Palestine.”
Other sponsors and partners include bookstore giant Indigo, whose majority shareholders Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman founded the HESEG Foundation, which provides scholarships to people from outside Israel who join that country’s military.
Signatories to the letter include Sarah Bernstein, last year’s winner, and Omar El Akkad, the 2021 winner.
Scotiabank did not respond to requests for comment.