Authors threaten boycott of Edinburgh book festival over sponsors’ fossil fuel links

An open letter signed by more than 50 authors including Zadie Smith, Ali Smith and Katherine Rundell calls for investment firm Baillie Gifford to be dropped as main sponsor for 2024

Authors including Zadie Smith, Ali Smith and Katherine Rundell have called on the Edinburgh International book festival to drop any sponsor that invests in fossil fuels.

The lead sponsor of the literary festival, which is due to start on 12 August, is investment firm Baillie Gifford. According to its own report, the company has up to £5bn invested in corporations that profit from fossil fuels. An open letter signed by a group of more than 50 authors and event chairs stated that these corporations are “making huge profits from global disaster, and hide behind esteemed cultural institutions, like the Edinburgh book festival, as sanction for its continued operations”.