Amazon axed as book prize sponsor
Quebec authors slammed ‘inhuman’ sales methods
MONTREAL — A Quebec literary prize has decided to abandon a sponsorship from Amazon after writers nominated for the award denounced the online giant’s “inhuman methods.”
Organizers of the Prix litteraire des collegiens announced Monday the next edition of the prize will go ahead with funding from a foundation as they try to find a new sponsor.
The prize was suspended last month shortly after Amazon was announced as the main sponsor. Critics blamed the online retailer for hastening the demise of local bookstores and said that it had no business associating with the award.
Claude Bourgie Bovet, co-founder of the prize, said in an interview that organizers “will work to try to do what we had done with Amazon, that is to find a partner able to offer money and support to develop the prize and ensure its longevity.”
Amazon said the controversy won’t stop its involvement in literary prizes.
“We have a long-standing track record of supporting Canadian authors and readers and will continue to explore ways to recognize writers and support literature in Quebec and across Canada,” the company said in a statement.
It said it is already the main sponsor of the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, which The Walrus magazine produces on the online retailer’s behalf, and contributes to other initiatives promoting literature.
The finalists for the 2019 edition of the prize were among the most vocal critics of Amazon Canada’s involvement. In a joint letter published in Le Devoir, Karoline Georges, Kevin Lambert, Jean-Christophe Rehel, Lula Carballo and Dominique Fortier denounced what they called Amazon’s “extreme competition.”
“Must we recall the precariousness of the book trade and literary publishing?” they asked.
“Must we bring up the inhuman methods of this online selling giant, which constitutes a peril for small retailers and cultural sites?”