NZ Taxpayers’ Union Blasts Eleanor Catton, Releases Data of Over $50K Financial Support She Received From the Gov’t
After her dad admonished Sean Plunket for name-calling her, Eleanor Catton has found herself another critic in the form of the taxpayers. The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union blasted the Man Booker Prize winner for claiming she did not receive enough support from the country when the taxpayers spent over $50,000 for her.
At the Jaipur Literary Festival in India, the 29-year-old novelist unreservedly expressed her feelings about her home country’s government and the alleged lack of support she received from the people. Her unexpected rant at New Zealand got support from a lot of Kiwis online who agree with her assessment. It also attracted criticisms, including from radio host Sean Plunket, who called her an “ungrateful hua” and a “traitor.”
“I feel uncomfortable being an ambassador for my country when my country is not doing as much as it could, especially for the intellectual world. It’s sort of a complicated position to be in,” she was quoted by Live Mint as saying.
The Taxpayers’ Union begs to differ, though. It said that Catton has, in fact, received abundance of support worth tens of thousands of dollars of grants, paid by the New Zealand taxpayers.
According to the press release by union executive director Jordan Williams, the Creative NZ data they obtained is proof that Catton received generous support from the country. Catton, whose “The Luminaries” novel won the 2013 Man Booker Prize Award, benefitted from the taxpayers’ hard-earned money.
“In addition to the usual government support of students, Ms Catton has received special Creative NZ funding amounting to tens of thousands for her artistic endeavours. Far from not supporting the arts, it appears that taxpayers have been rather generous,” Williams said.
He also pointed out that despite “The Luminaries” being a commercial success, the cost of having it translated into three languages was still shouldered by the taxpayers. “If that’s not generous support, what is?”
The union has enumerated the expenses the people have spent for the author, including $9000 Writers’ Bursary for her living expenses in 2007-2008 while writing “The Luminaries,” $5,000 Arts Grant to appear at the Vancouver International Writers Festival, and $28,750 Arts Grant to the University of Canterbury to support the Ursula Bethell Residency 2011 for creative writing, in which Catton was one of two writers who assumed residency.
The list also includes Catton’s travel fund expenses overseas and translation grants for both her books, her first novel “The Rehearsal” and the award-winning “The Luminaries.” It also details the residency programs Catton accepted while she was working on her book.
“We say again, if Ms Catton isn’t thankful for the support by the New Zealand Government while she wrote ‘The Luminaries,’ maybe she should use some of the substantial royalties to pay the money back,” Williams said.
Catton isn’t backing down, though. In a statement, she said she will continue to speak her mind about the government, and vowed she will discuss with the foreign media in her future interviews the “inflammatory, vicious and patronising things that have been broadcast and published in New Zealand this week.”
Man Booker Prize Winner Eleanor Catton Angry at New Zealand Gov’t, People; PM John Key Hits Back
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