Lottery winners step in to save Aye Write book festival
LITERARY festival Aye Write will go ahead this year after an “unexpected” donation from the charitable foundation established by the late Euromillions winner, Colin Weir.
A spokesperson for the charity said the cancellation of the Glasgow book festival was “unthinkable.”
It will operate on a far smaller scale than normal, with a number of standalone events taking place throughout the year, rather than over the course of 10 days as it did last year when around 175 authors appeared in more than 120 events.
The funding has also secured this year’s Wee Write, the book festival for children and young people.
Events include appearances from Holywood A-lister Alan Cumming, the award-winning novelist Lionel Shriver, and an in-conversation event with Nicola Sturgeon and Val Mcdermid.
Last month, Glasgow Life, the organiser of the festival said it had been forced to cancel after a bid to secure £77,500 from Creative Scotland was rejected.
At the time, the council-run arm’slength organisation said the delivery of the festival was entirely “dependent on securing external funding”.
Without the money from the funding body it had no choice but to cancel this year’s event, it said.
The news was greeted with dismay by writers and book lovers.
Douglas Stuart, the Booker Prizewinning author of Shuggie Bain, said it was “unacceptable” that his home city of Glasgow might not have a literary festival. Taking to X for the first time in a year, the writer said Aye Write was “not just about one city or one festival, it’s about a nation’s pride in her art”.
He said: “Aye Write is not just about one city or one festival, it’s about a nation’s pride in her art. It’s about working-class access to literature and let’s not be coy here: working-class people are crucial to Scottish literature.”
The first event confirmed in the new line-up is an event with author Damian Barr and playwright James Ley.
They have worked together on adapting Mr Barr’s memoir, Maggie & Me, for the stage. The two men will be in conversation with Jackie Wylie, the artistic director of the National Theatre of Scotland, on April 30.
GT Karber, whose Murdle books have proved a hit with puzzle fans will be in Waterstones on May 16.
LBC broadcaster and author of How They Broke Britain, James O’brien, will be in conversation with Catherine Salmond, the editor of The Herald on May 17 at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
The event with Ms Mcdermid and the former first minister will take place in The Old Fruitmarket on May 21.
David Nicholls, whose books include One Day, recently adapted by Netflix, will be at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on June 14.
Actor Cumming will be reunited with his former double act partner Forbes Masson for an event at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on August 8.
Tickets are due to go on sale at 10am today. Organisers say more events are expected. Wee Write will go ahead in the autumn “on a smaller scale” with more details “available in the coming months.”
Bailie Annette Christie, chair of Glasgow Life, said: “Aye Write is a much-loved festival, which is apparent from the outpouring of support over the past few weeks. The generous donation from the Colin Weir Charitable Foundation means it can continue to have a positive impact on Glaswegians and people throughout Scotland.”
A spokesman for the Foundation said: “We are pleased to be able to support Aye Write to put on a programme of great events in 2024. It was unthinkable that Aye Write should be silenced until next year. Happily, the donation means that won’t be the case.”
Glasgow Life has said it is continuing to develop a multi-year funding application to Creative Scotland for future festivals. It says if this bid is successful then Aye Write should return in full in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
However, the arts funding body has warned that money is limited with only around 30% of applications to its open fund likely to be successful.
Last week, Susan Aitken, the SNP leader of Glasgow City Council, hit out at Creative Scotland, saying the city does not get any significant support from the national agencies based in Edinburgh.
Writing in a column for the Glasgow Times, the councillor said: “Aye Write is a perfect illustration of this: an event of national cultural significance, rooted in our city and its venues and reliant on our expertise for its success. But it’s also an example of how Glasgow does so much of the heavy lifting ourselves, with comparatively little support from national governments and agencies. Glasgow punches well above our weight within Scottish culture and it’s high time that got the recognition it deserves.”
Mr Weir and his wife at the time, Christine, won £161 million on the Euromillions in July 2011. He died following kidney complications in December 2019, aged 72.
Shortly before his death, he helped saved Partick Thistle, brokering a secret £2m deal, which saw him take over the Glasgow club, with his 55% majority share then gifted to fans.
It was unthinkable that Aye Write should be silenced until next year