The winner of an “unprecedented” literary double has stated he is not going to settle for his newest £50,000 prize till the sponsor shares a plan to cut back its “investment in fossil fuel extraction”.
Richard Flanagan has been named the winner of the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for his memoir Query 7 – a decade after being awarded the Booker Prize for fiction, for his sixth novel, The Slim Street To The Deep North.
The 63-year-old is the primary writer to win each of the celebrated prizes.
Nevertheless, in his acceptance speech for the Baillie Gifford Prize, he stated that whereas he was “grateful” for the award and didn’t wish to criticise the funding administration agency sponsors, his “soul would be troubled” if he didn’t converse out about the specter of local weather change.
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Flanagan received the prize for his memoir, Query 7. Pic: Baillie Gifford/PA
The Australian writer is participating in a trek within the Tasmanian rainforest, and so delivered his speech in a pre-recorded message which was screened on the awards ceremony in London.
“At a time of great duress for writers, Baillie Gifford’s sponsorship matters, because it helps keep alive not only this prize, but literature in this country, and I thank them for that larger gift to us all,” he stated.
“Yet my soul would be troubled if I did not say that the very rainforests and heathlands in which I am camped tonight, unique in the world, are existentially threatened by the climate crisis.”
Not talking about “the terrifying impact fossil fuels are having on my island home… would be untrue to the spirit of my book”, he added.
Baillie Gifford confronted criticism earlier this yr after 50 writers joined a bunch of local weather campaigners in threatening to boycott occasions sponsored by the agency in 2024.
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Hay Pageant was amongst occasions that pulled out of sponsorship offers. Pic: Robert Melen/Shutterstock
Quite a few e-book festivals and humanities occasions pulled out of their partnerships with the corporate, together with the Edinburgh Worldwide Guide Pageant, Hay Pageant and Wigtown Guide Pageant.
In his speech, Flanagan went on to say that the “world is complex, these matters are difficult, none of us are clean, all of us are complicit”, and that whereas Baillie Gifford’s direct funding in fossil gas extraction is “already minimal”, he want to see it decreased additional.
“Major booksellers that sell my books are owned by oil companies, major publishers that publish my friends are owned by fascists and authoritarians,” he stated.
“No one tonight should regard my words as criticism of Baillie Gifford, but its opposite – it is belief in Baillie Gifford’s good faith, and the seeking of a way forward.”
The author stated he would welcome the chance to talk with the corporate’s board, “both to thank them for their generosity and also to describe how fossil fuels are destroying my country”.
He continued: “I would urge Baillie Gifford to act on its own publicly stated conviction that it sees no future in hydrocarbons, by sharing with the public a plan to reduce its already minimal direct investment in fossil fuel extraction and increase its investments in renewables.
“In accepting this prize, and the prize cash that goes with it, I’ve a small caveat, I’ll delay taking receipt of the cash till the day that plan is introduced.”
In response to Flanagan’s speech, a Baillie Gifford spokesman said: “Congratulations to Richard for successful the 2 most coveted accolades within the realm of literature.
“We look forward to welcoming him to Edinburgh and continuing the conversation.”
