Protesters form a picket line outside the venue where the Giller Prize award ceremony took place in Toronto on Nov. 18, 2024.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
A group that organized collective action against the Giller Prize more than a year ago says its boycott of the literary event is over.
CanLit Responds says the group received confirmation that the Giller no longer has sponsorship ties to Scotiabank, Indigo Books or the Azrieli Foundation.
The Giller Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has previously said Indigo was only ever a marketing partner, not a sponsor.
CanLit Responds, which says it represents hundreds of authors and bookworkers, launched the boycott in the fall of 2024 over the Giller sponsors’ links to Israel. Several prominent Canadian authors including David Bergen, Shani Mootoo and Thea Lim joined.
For two decades, Scotiabank was the naming sponsor of the $100,000 prize, but protests erupted in 2023 over its subsidiary’s investment in an Israeli arms manufacturer and the Giller Foundation “parted ways” with the bank last year.
However, the boycott continued as CanLit Responds also demanded the prize not be linked to either Indigo or the Azrieli Foundation.
Protesters took issue with Indigo because its CEO runs a charity that provides scholarships for former Israel Defense Forces soldiers who have no family in the country.
In an e-mail to CanLit Responds shared with The Canadian Press, Giller executive director Elana Rabinovitch said the Giller “has never received money” from Indigo and that the book giant only showcases Giller-nominated works in their stores.
Elana Rabinovitch stands on stage at the Giller Prize’s 2024 awards ceremony.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Protesters also objected to the partnership with the Azrieli Foundation, in part for its connection to Israeli real estate company Azrieli Group, which has minority holdings in Bank Leumi. The United Nations Human Rights Office has included Bank Leumi on a list of businesses involved in activities related to settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Rabinovitch said in her e-mail to the group that the Azrieli Foundation is no longer a sponsor after its contract with the Giller ended in 2025.
She added that the Giller was able to operate its foundation and prize in 2025 with “a one-time ’bridge’ gift and two smaller donations from individuals and foundations who wish to remain anonymous.” Those donations will allow the Giller to carry on for the 2026 prize.
In a statement Friday, CanLit Responds called their campaign “a major win for writers who refuse to accept the normalization of genocide against Palestinians,” and called on the Giller to ensure its current and future sponsorships are “transparent and ethical.”
CanLit Responds organizer Michael DeForge said it’s up to the Giller if it’s “interested in rebuilding any sense of trust with writers and readers,” and that it remains to be seen whether all authors participate in the prize again.
“We imagine some authors who have boycotted might submit their works again, and others might not,” he said.
Canadian writer André Forget said he would consider allowing his future work to be submitted, “but that will depend on how the situation develops in the meantime.”
The Toronto native, who was longlisted for the Giller Prize 2022 for his debut novel In the City of Pigs, added that “this has been a painful experience for many of us.”
“If trust is to be rebuilt, it won’t happen overnight. What the end of the boycott means, in my understanding, is that writers will now judge for themselves whether and how to be involved with the Giller Prize, just as they did before the boycott began.”
Regulatory filings from February show that Scotiabank’s 1832 Asset Management has sold its remaining holdings in Israeli defence manufacturer Elbit Systems Ltd.
The 2026 Giller Prize longlist will be announced in mid-September. The short list announcement follows in early October.
