Bath Children's Lit Festival Asks Authors to Delete Diversity Comments
The Bath Children's Literature Festival (BCLF) is facing criticism after its founder, John McLay, reached out to authors via email, urging them to remove posts that highlighted the festival's insufficient diversity in its 2026 lineup. Several authors noted that their comments were deleted and interactions on social media were restricted. In his email sent on Monday, McLay asserted that the authors had not "investigated the full line-up." Gill McLay supported this stance, mentioning seven authors of color as proof. The festival, which is the largest of its kind in the UK, hosts nearly 100 events. Gill later expressed regret, clarifying that silencing was not their goal. Authors like Sophie Anderson and Alexandra Sheppard raised concerns about representation, with Sheppard initiating an open letter. This incident underscores wider diversity issues within children's literature.
Key facts
- Bath Children's Literature Festival founder John McLay emailed authors asking them to delete social media posts criticizing lack of diversity in the 2026 programme.
- Authors reported their comments under an Instagram post were deleted; the original post was removed and comments limited on other posts.
- John McLay founded the festival 19 years ago with his wife Gill McLay, an agent at Bath Literary Agency.
- Gill McLay defended contacting authors, citing incorrect information claiming no writers of colour were in the programme.
- The email listed seven authors of colour, including one UK-Cypriot, as evidence the complaints were inaccurate.
- The programme features nearly 100 events and bills itself as the UK's largest children's literature festival.
- Author Sophie Anderson described the emails as 'threatening and bullying.'
- Author Alexandra Sheppard's video gained over 20,000 views; she is organizing an open letter.
- Department for Education figures show 38.7% of school-age pupils in England are from minority ethnic backgrounds.
- The eighth Reflecting Realities survey found only 24% of books had main characters from racial minorities, down from 30% in 2022.
Entities
Artists
- Sophie Anderson
- Alexandra Sheppard
- Iqbal Hussain
Institutions
- Bath Children's Literature Festival
- Bath Literary Agency
- Guardian
- Department for Education
- Centre for Literacy in Primary Education
Locations
- Bath
- England
- London