The Observer view on Baillie Gifford sponsorship row: writing is on the wall for book lovers

Even in bad weather, literary festivals can be magical: the gentle tap of rain on canvas as an audience tunes in to what it hopes will be another scintillating conversation. For some, this is a chance to clap eyes on a beloved author, and perhaps to have a favourite paperback signed. For others, this is the place for discovering new voices, and afterwards to read their work, hot off the press, in a deckchair with a cup of tea . Questions are asked. Connections are made.

Such news was, perhaps, predictable. The Hay festival and the Edinburgh international book festival had already cancelled their arrangements with Baillie Gifford: Julie Finch, the chief executive of the former, said somewhat bizarrely that it wanted to guarantee the “”; Jenny Niven, the director of the latter, spoke of the “intolerable pressure” on her staff. It was surely only a matter of time before Baillie Gifford walked away.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Book festival activists are making absurd demands over Baillie GiffordInsistence on investment purity misses the point and will only lead to a decline in arts sponsorship
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

Filthy lucre is everywhere, but book festivals are an easy target for protesters’ furyHay and Edinburgh forgo pragmatism in turning their backs on the Baillie Gifford fund
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

Eurostar reverses wheelchair policy that left user stranded, after Observer campaignPassengers were left abandoned and humiliated after operator banned staff from providing assistance
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

The Observer view: When modified rice could save thousands of lives, it is wrong to oppose itThe green movement’s attempts to block the cultivation of a grain enhanced with vitamin A is misguided
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

The Observer view: it’s up to Israel’s allies to persuade Netanyahu to stop standing in the way of peaceEven his defence minister knows that there can be no military solution to the war with Hamas
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

The Observer view on D-day furore: Rishi Sunak is driving Tories over an electoral cliff edgePrime minister’s gaffe was a defining moment in his campaign symbolising a party that does not know what it stands for and has nothing to offer
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »