DIRECTOR ISSUES APPEAL TO AUTHORS
YESTERDAY (Friday 11 August 2023) Edinburgh International Book Festival received an open letter from over 50 authors querying their sponsorship by Baillie Gifford.
Below is a response from the Book Festival:
Nick Barley, Director of Edinburgh International Book Festival, said:
“ Dear authors,
Thank you for your letter about the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s sponsorship by Baillie Gifford.
Writers are the lifeblood of this festival. We exist to offer you and your readers the chance of open discussion about the things that matter to you.
We fully acknowledge your concerns about the devastating impact of fossil fuel exploitation on the climate: as individuals and as a charity we firmly agree.
For these reasons we promise to think about your letter carefully. The last thing we want is to let anyone give the impression we are on opposite sides.
Just as we promise to listen carefully to you, we ask that you allow us some time to consider your comments. We’d also like to share with you the reasons why we have accepted this sponsorship agreement.
Like all arts organisations in the UK, we wouldn’t have enough funds to operate without private sponsorship. We looked very closely at the work of Baillie Gifford and it seems to us that they are in fact investing in companies that are seeking to resolve the crisis.
Those companies include Ørsted, the Danish windfarm specialist. Ørsted was mandated by the Danish government to keep two coal-fired power stations open until 2024 as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and that is the only reason why a small percentage of their income still comes from fossil fuels.
I hope you will talk with me and my colleagues, and discuss the complexities of this issue with us. Surely the best place for such conversations is at Book Festivals like ours. I invite you to the festival because I believe in the power of your words.
I am keen to learn from you about this; to hear your expertise; to understand your perspective. I promise to consider what you say carefully, and keep an open mind about how to proceed.
For that reason I’m proposing that we talk at the festival – with each other and with audience members who share the same concerns. Let’s talk in the Authors’ Yurt, in the bookshop, in the cafe and in the festival courtyard. Let’s talk in our theatres too: I’d like to find a time when we can invite representatives from across the spectrum of opinion to come on stage and have a discussion which will be open to the public. We’ll find a date when that’s possible and you’d be more than welcome to join us.
Can we talk?”
Edinburgh International Book Festival opens this morning