Duration of Literature Scholarship Has Been Shortened
Those 50 writers who recently received approval learned this from the accompanying letter. The IG Authors Association is heavily criticizing this practice.
"On behalf of our colleagues, we express our strongest protest against this treatment of them and their work. It is unacceptable to be treated in this way," said Gerhard Ruiss. "The awarding of literature scholarships is not an act of grace without any consideration, it involves highly professional, respected authors and the completion of their literary projects, which are being handled in this manner."
Ministry: "Budgetary consolidation measures necessary"
The Ministry of Culture confirmed the reduction to ten months upon APA request, citing "the enormous budget deficit left by the previous government" as the reason. This also necessitates budgetary consolidation measures in the cultural sector. However, opinions differ on the prior agreement with the IG Authors Association: "This measure was also discussed with the IG Authors Association," said the ministry of Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler (SPÖ). The shortening of the duration made it possible to maintain the full number of 50 scholarships, instead of changing the number of scholarships. This preference was also expressed by the IG.
Ruiss, on the other hand, emphasizes to the APA that the discussions were merely about potential savings for the future. At no point was it made clear that the current allocation would be affected. Incidentally, the ministry's website still lists a duration of twelve months for the scholarships.
Savings measures in the cultural sector "as tolerable as possible"
"The call for scholarships was made on November 5, 2024, still with 12 months, long before the extent of the budget pressure was known," said the ministry, which wants to make savings measures in the cultural sector "as tolerable as possible" to "preserve the diversity of Austria's cultural landscape." There is also always coordination with the grant recipients. An APA inquiry about what further savings measures are planned went unanswered.
There was also discontent due to an error in sending rejection emails to around 300 unsuccessful applicants, in which all names and email addresses were clearly visible. "Sending the emails to a distribution list and not individually to those affected was a human error," said the Ministry of Culture. The affected employee has already apologized to those affected.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.