On the road with a new book, I recently spoke at a literary luncheon hosted by the Cambridge Festival. What could be more civilised than food, wine and conversations about murder with a charming audience… but this is one of many festivals that lost its funding thanks to the organisers of Hay-on-Wye and Edinburgh pulling out of their sponsorship deal with Baillie Gifford, a unilateral decision that has endangered the entire landscape of literary festivals. Cambridge, Wigtown, Stratford and Henley all ended up losing their funding when Baillie Gifford, not surprisingly, decided to call it a day.
And what exactly has been gained? The pressure group Fossil Free Books may be preening itself. ‘Solidarity with Palestine and climate justice are inextricably linked,’ they claimed as they targeted Baillie Gifford on these two fronts, although personally I don’t see the connection, and certainly neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor Donald Trump have changed their policies because they’ve been unable to get their books signed by their favourite authors. I do have some sympathy for Hay-on-Wye, which faced ‘possible decimation’ if it didn’t capitulate, but shooting yourself in the foot is never a good way to improve the way you walk.
The subject of AI came up at Cambridge as it does almost every time I speak these days, but I’m firmly of the view that it’s a misnomer. Artificial Intelligence? I know that sounds like a brilliant short premise for a sci-fi novel but I’d say Advanced Imitation would be closer to the mark. I have yet to see a single poem or piece of prose, one painting or photograph created by AI that has a spark of true originality or, in the literal sense, genius.
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