A few days ago, Canadian author Margaret Atwood backed out of attending the inaugural Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature (EAIFL) that will be held later this month in Dubai. Atwood made her decision because of the alleged blacklisting of a novel by Geraldine Bedell. Other acclaimed writers are considering joining her, including bestselling children’s authors Anthony Horowitz and Lauren Child.
Bedell’s novel The Gulf Between Us was set to officially launch at the festival, largely due to the books setting in a fictional Gulf emirate. According to Bedell, however, she was told that it was removed from the festival’s lineup for a variety of reasons, including the fact that one of the minor characters is gay. Homosexuality is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.
A statement released on February 18 by the EAIFL makes no mention of the specific reasons the book’s launch was removed from the festival. However, festival director Isobel Abulhoul says of the protests, “We are very disappointed and not a little surprised that it has taken so long for anyone to reconsider their position — particularly if this reconsideration is linked to Geraldine Bedell’s position which, while communicated to her last September, has come to the public’s attention only now and around the publication of her novel.”
According to The Guardian:
Abulhoul said the decision not to include Bedell’s book in the programme was taken based on her knowledge of the Middle Eastern book-reading community after living in Dubai for 40 years. Having read 150 pages of the manuscript, she knew the work “could offend certain cultural sensitivities”, and that it was not in the festival’s “long-term interests” to launch it.
Atwood is an international vice president of International PEN, a worldwide organization of writers who counts the fight for freedom of expression as one of its goals. In an official letter on her website, she cited this membership as one of the biggest motivators for pulling out of the festival.
Reports are coming out this morning, however, that Atwood has again agreed to participate in the EAIFL, but will do so via video link rather than in-person attendance. In place of her scheduled on-stage interview, she will participate in a panel discussion on literary censorship, organized by PEN.
Atwood is still trying to sort through the uproar. The Toronto Star quotes her as saying, “I still don’t know what really happened. No one acted out of malice, but none of the stories we have heard so far has been 100 per cent accurate.”
SOURCES: “Atwood pulls out of Dubai festival in censorship protest,” 02/18/09; “Canadian author protests Dubai fest, won’t attend,” 02/19/09; “Censorship uproar keeps Atwood away,” 02/20/09
