Crime writing award criticised over all white longlist

One of the world’s most prestigious crime writing awards, co-founded by acclaimed author Val McDermid, has been riven over claims it perpetuates an “old boys’ network” after the authors selected for this year’s longlist were revealed to be all white.

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate has been accused of ignoring ethnic minority and working class authors and selecting potential winners from a narrow pool of writers.

Critics have pointed out that this year’s longlist of 18 entries for the festival’s Novel of the Year award features no black or ethnic minority writers. They also claim that few are from a working class background.

Of around 100 books submitted by publishers to be selected for the longlist, just 7 per cent were by an author of colour.

‘Doesn’t reflect the real world’

Sarah Pinborough, a bestselling thriller writer, said on Facebook: “It’s very pale …”

Acclaimed crime writer Dreda Say Mitchell added: “A big question is, how does the festival go from having a Black Woman as its Programme Chair in 2011 – me! – to where it is now?”

One publishing industry source told The Telegraph: “It’s been commented on by several people in the crime writing community that this year’s long list is all white.

“It just doesn’t reflect the real world out there. It’s also a problem of no working class, disabled or gay voices. A lot of working class crime fiction is grittier and more urban because these writers have got first hand experience of growing up in those areas. Instead we’ve got mostly middle class stories with little bite to them.”

This year’s longlist includes books by both Ms McDermid, who helped set up the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival 19 years ago, and Mark Billingham, another key figure at the festival.

Prolific writer

Since 2005, Mr Billingham has twice won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and been shortlisted five times, while Ms McDermid has won it once and been shortlisted five times.

In 2016, McDermid, a close friend of Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and a vocal campaigner for trans rights, also received the festival’s Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.

The longlist is picked by an academy of 38 industry voices, which includes journalists, reviewers, booksellers and members of the festival’s Programming Committee. Two current members of the academy are non-white.

The festival points out that if individuals on the Programming Committee or publishers and agents have authors among the submissions for the longlist they cannot vote for themselves.

The longlist is whittled down to a shortlist of six, decided by public vote, alongside votes from the Awards Academy, the Programming Committee and industry representatives. The winner is decided by a panel of judges, with the result of the public vote counting as one

Ms McDermid became an honorary vice president in 2023 for the overall charity Harrogate International Festivals. Mr Billingham is a former honorary vice president of the Harrogate Festival’s Future 50 Appeal.

Writing regular bestsellers

A spokesperson said: “Neither Val McDermid nor Mark Billingham were part of the Academy when not serving on the Programming Committee.

“Some authors appear frequently on longlists because they publish bestselling books on a regular yearly schedule.”

On its website, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival emphasises its commitment to diversity, but it has admitted this year’s longlist has failed to reflect that.

A festival spokesman said: “This year’s longlist is unusual – the longlist for the Awards over the last six years have all featured writers of colour - but not something we take lightly. We will continue to work with our partners in the publishing industry to ensure we improve representation and welcome interest from crime lovers from under-represented communities to join our Awards Academy.

“In recent years, the shortlist for Crime Novel of the Year has included: Abir Mukherjee, Khurram Rahman, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Vaseem Khan.

“We would not want to make assumptions about the class background of specific authors, however we are aware that 2023 winner and 2024 longlisted author M W Craven was born in Carlisle and grew up in Newcastle and identifies as being from a working class background.”

The winner of the Theakston Old Peculier crime novel of the year will be announced at the 2024 festival, which will be held from 18 to 21 July. The lineup for this year’s festival will be announced on 14 May.