Irish author John Banville pulls out of Spanish festival after Argentinian author dropped over pro-Israel stance
Author John Banville declined to attend the closing ceremony of the International Festival of Art, Literature and Cultural Humanities Cultur-Ah on Sunday. Picture: Stephen Collins /Collins Photos.
Irish author John Banville pulled out of a Spanish literary festival after it excluded an Argentinian author following pressure from pro-Palestinian student groups protesting her support for Israel.
Banville declined to attend the closing ceremony of the International Festival of Art, Literature and Cultural Humanities Cultur-Alh, an annual event organised by the University of Granada, on Sunday.
The festival, which is in its second year, took place from September 24 to 27, bringing together leading figures from the international scene of literature, feminism and critical thinking to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the polymath and philosopher Averroes' birth.
The inclusion of Ariana Harwicz, a Jewish-Argentinian novelist who was scheduled to participate in a talk at the festival on September 26, sparked controversy within the university community.
Festival organisers cancelled her talk and rescinded her invitation after university activists complained about Harwicz’s views.
More than 350 writers and other cultural figures signed a petition defending Harwicz, and the decision to remove her from the festival’s programme was condemned by a number of organisations, including the Argentinian Embassy in Spain.
Wexford author John Banville, who won the Booker Prize in 2005 for subsequently pulled out of appearing at the festival.
Earlier this year, the novelist joined poet Victoria Kennefick at the West Cork Literary Festival on behalf of the Irish Writers Centre to explore the poetics of prose, passions, and the impossibility of doing anything else other than writing.
Banville, who was due to appear at the Granada-based festival last week, declined to attend, with Harwicz calling on X for the end of "ideological extortion in culture".
"John Banville quits going to the CULTUR ALH festival in Granada. Enough of ideological extortion in culture," she wrote.
Earlier this month, Harwicz said that festival organisers “gave in to pressure from militants” and “terror”.
“It’s not an “International Festival of Arts, Literature and Humanities” and it’s not a public university in Granada. The organizers said how much they admire my books, which are anything but propaganda. They deprogrammed me at the last moment,” she wrote.
“They gave in to pressure from militants. They gave in to terror. I wanted to go anyway; even if they held a demonstration, they said it would be dangerous. It will be a Festival without dissent. What a shame for the students.”
Harwicz has vocally opposed cultural boycotts against Israeli writers and artists, which she has described as “antisemitism.” She has also dismissed accusations of genocide against Israel.
The Festival of Art, Literature and Cultural Humanities Cultur-Alh wrapped up on Sunday after four days of talks and workshops that explored the intersection of art, literature, and cultural humanities.
