Book festival defends itself over working class 'stitch-up' claim

The Herald Scotland

3 days ago

In the post on X, Mr McGarvey, 41, said: 'I know I'm not a big deal in grand scheme of things but this is now the second book I've had out and no invite to come and do an event, at my home country's flagship book festival.'
'The point is that this is draped in diversity and inclusion but you can't get in there unless you have a publicist or an agent or are highly networked. So it's a stitch-up, it's an industry stitch-up.
'There's a conveyor belt that comes from publishers and publicists and agents who lobby months in advance to get their artist or writer in so there's people out there who've written bloody good books – poetry books, fiction, non-fiction – but they don't have a structure around them so they have no chance and most of them are working class.'
In his interview for The Herald, Mr McGarvey also talked about his Fringe show inspired by the new book, which explores the price he's paid for writing and speaking about his struggles with addiction to drink and drugs.
Talking to The Herald about public policy on drugs, Mr McGarvey said public policy wasn't helping people addicted to drink and drugs and criticised The Thistle safe drug consumption facility in Glasgow, saying that it would 'prolong misery'.
Injection bay areas in the using space at The Thistle drugs consumption room. (Image: PA) He said: 'I suspect a lot of good work will be done at The Thistle and it will be saving a lot of lives. But for a lot of folk it will be prolonging misery when if we had rehab more available, people could go in and try to get into a rehab and get sober.
'I think we suffer from the bigotry of low expectations in the drug sector because resources are so stretched, we say that recovery, complete sobriety, is beyond certain people because they're too chaotic. But part of the reason they're too chaotic is because the services are in shambles.'
The Edinburgh book festival has also attracted controversy recently for failing to invite gender-critical writers such as the authors of The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht.
The poet Jenny Lindsay called it 'discrimination' but Jenny Niven, the festival's director, has justified it on the grounds that discussion of the subject is 'extremely divisive'.
Read more: National Library accused of 'cowardice' over exclusion of gender-critical book
Mark Smith: How Scotland's institutions shut women down
A spokesperson for the festival said that because of Darren raising his concerns about his inclusion in the festival, they had approached his publicist at Penguin Randomhouse and both Mr McGarvey's team and the festival were keen to see him on the programme in 2026.
The spokesperson said: 'There is a significant issue of inequality and access for working class writers within the publishing industry and wider cultural landscape.
"This issue is well-documented, and as well as impacting the income and opportunity for individual writers, it impacts the diversity of stories being told, which disadvantages readers and audiences too.
'With the current decline in literacy rates, the book festival is committed to widening access to all of our programmes. Disadvantage begins early, which is why we provide free tickets and travel to children from schools in areas across Scotland with a high index of multiple deprivation.
'Earlier this summer we launched a new programme working long term with five Edinburgh libraries, including Streetreads, who work directly with people experiencing long term or temporary homelessness. Our aim is that people who discover the book festival through these programmes will be more likely to write their own stories, or come to the festival as readers, which in time will contribute to a more equitable industry.