Really? They can just deny support to a publisher by saying "I don't care for the tone of your application"? I thought they were supposed to be objective organizations.
This is sad and infuriating, and also helps explain why there is so little diversity in Canadian intellectual life. Thanks to SH for publicizing, Canadians need to be aware of how pervasively their governments control what they read.
I've liked some things New Star Books has published - I have a number of their books on my shelves. Though I tend to find them a bit habitually left, I don't object to a certain amount of public support - a diversity of voices is good. It seems that the arts councils have abandoned any pretence of diversity, however. Once they come for Rolf, of all people, no one is safe.
Complain of "cancel culture" in public and you'll be told you're hysterical and that no such thing exists, yet evidence like this keeps appearing. If the progressive cultural gatekeepers cancel their own for failure to toe a rigid ideological line, what hope is there for outsiders?
Some public support for arts is warranted, but the current disbursement regime, apparently under the thumbs of arbiters of purity, ain't it, clearly. Time for a reboot.
What a well written SHuSH article and ( equally good, if not better ) publisher's note. Very sorry for the kafkaesque circumstances faced by the publisher.
It would be a good thing if the BCAC and perhaps the Canada Council as well were to provide you with their publishable responses. Lacking them, it does appear that the BCAC’s actions are not defendable.
What Canada needs is more Private rather than Public support for artists based upon their creativity and skills rather than being judged on the social views presented in their works of fiction. By no means am I suggesting that hateful views be supported by tax deductible donations but certainly conservative views should be equally represented alongside and in contrast to the progressive views which are currently favoured by these government supported panels.
Just so enraging! Damn. I hate it that writers are probably self-censoring to some degree just to give themselves a better chance of getting published.
This is profoundly disturbing. So few years have passed since Canadian artists undertook the mission of throwing off colonialism. Now, within the living memory of that generation, and for several younger generations of artists, another brick wall. Add to that the near collapse of arts journalism and I fear we can kiss goodbye the project of "Canadian culture". Can somebody please suggest a solution or solutions?
This completely opened my eyes and solidified what I have long-suspected about grants and arts councils. It breaks my heart to hear about New Star and the lack of clear communication from BCAC. I am sad today.
Thank god the three of them had hit retirement age just in time! Who'd want to teach at a university these days? Didn't the students rat the professors out at the slightest verbal misstep? Weren't the beleaguered profs routinely mobbed on social media—as Chrissy had been just before she left for daring to teach 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, that disgusting, incestuous Jacobean bloodbath with such a demeaning word in the title? How could she have been so tone-deaf? So anti-woman? Not a good look!
"But I chose it as an example of misogyny," Chrissy had wailed at the
time. "You aren't supposed to like it!"
"What did they want you to teach instead?" Myrna had asked.
"I suggested Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw. The one that got turned into a musical. My Fair Lady. Then they'd have some sort of movie to watch. They like that."
"Isn't that an example of misogyny, too?" Myrna asked.
"Oh yes! And classism! But they didn't like that one, either! They
wanted plays with everyone behaving perfectly all the time!"
"How French Revolution of them," said Leonie, whose academic specialty had been the psychology of revolutions. "The Festival of the Supreme Being. Bucket of lizards! We know how that turned out!"
Myrna sighed. "It's an old debate. Should art be good art, or art that's good for you? Once the question gets raised, next thing you know they're banning books in libraries.
Really? They can just deny support to a publisher by saying "I don't care for the tone of your application"? I thought they were supposed to be objective organizations.
This is sad and infuriating, and also helps explain why there is so little diversity in Canadian intellectual life. Thanks to SH for publicizing, Canadians need to be aware of how pervasively their governments control what they read.
It’s not New Star Books that should shut down; it’s the BCAC that should shut down or be replaced.
I've liked some things New Star Books has published - I have a number of their books on my shelves. Though I tend to find them a bit habitually left, I don't object to a certain amount of public support - a diversity of voices is good. It seems that the arts councils have abandoned any pretence of diversity, however. Once they come for Rolf, of all people, no one is safe.
Complain of "cancel culture" in public and you'll be told you're hysterical and that no such thing exists, yet evidence like this keeps appearing. If the progressive cultural gatekeepers cancel their own for failure to toe a rigid ideological line, what hope is there for outsiders?
Some public support for arts is warranted, but the current disbursement regime, apparently under the thumbs of arbiters of purity, ain't it, clearly. Time for a reboot.
New Star is a victim of the polarization and politicization of the Arts.
Don't toe the ideological line and you will be eliminated.
What a well written SHuSH article and ( equally good, if not better ) publisher's note. Very sorry for the kafkaesque circumstances faced by the publisher.
Canada is committing national suicide
It would be a good thing if the BCAC and perhaps the Canada Council as well were to provide you with their publishable responses. Lacking them, it does appear that the BCAC’s actions are not defendable.
What Canada needs is more Private rather than Public support for artists based upon their creativity and skills rather than being judged on the social views presented in their works of fiction. By no means am I suggesting that hateful views be supported by tax deductible donations but certainly conservative views should be equally represented alongside and in contrast to the progressive views which are currently favoured by these government supported panels.
Just so enraging! Damn. I hate it that writers are probably self-censoring to some degree just to give themselves a better chance of getting published.
This is profoundly disturbing. So few years have passed since Canadian artists undertook the mission of throwing off colonialism. Now, within the living memory of that generation, and for several younger generations of artists, another brick wall. Add to that the near collapse of arts journalism and I fear we can kiss goodbye the project of "Canadian culture". Can somebody please suggest a solution or solutions?
Jaysus. Shocking. Thank you for reporting. What is to be done?
This completely opened my eyes and solidified what I have long-suspected about grants and arts councils. It breaks my heart to hear about New Star and the lack of clear communication from BCAC. I am sad today.
The NDP did not like what Lisa Robinson wrote about her treatment in Cabinet!
A passage from Atwood’s CUT AND THIRST:
Thank god the three of them had hit retirement age just in time! Who'd want to teach at a university these days? Didn't the students rat the professors out at the slightest verbal misstep? Weren't the beleaguered profs routinely mobbed on social media—as Chrissy had been just before she left for daring to teach 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, that disgusting, incestuous Jacobean bloodbath with such a demeaning word in the title? How could she have been so tone-deaf? So anti-woman? Not a good look!
"But I chose it as an example of misogyny," Chrissy had wailed at the
time. "You aren't supposed to like it!"
"What did they want you to teach instead?" Myrna had asked.
"I suggested Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw. The one that got turned into a musical. My Fair Lady. Then they'd have some sort of movie to watch. They like that."
"Isn't that an example of misogyny, too?" Myrna asked.
"Oh yes! And classism! But they didn't like that one, either! They
wanted plays with everyone behaving perfectly all the time!"
"How French Revolution of them," said Leonie, whose academic specialty had been the psychology of revolutions. "The Festival of the Supreme Being. Bucket of lizards! We know how that turned out!"
Myrna sighed. "It's an old debate. Should art be good art, or art that's good for you? Once the question gets raised, next thing you know they're banning books in libraries.
Sad. The Left eating the Left. I wonder when the government will come for indie authors?