Val McDermid Explains Removal of 'Offensive' Terms from Early Novels

Speaking at the Out in the Hills festival in Pitlochry, which featured well-known LGBT+ figures, she said it was dishonest to make authors change their previous work to “conform” to modern-day sensibilities. • Trigger warning slapped on Harry Potter for ‘outdated attitudes’ She disclosed that she had been pressed to change her texts before a significant marketing campaign to mark the republishing of her novels featuring the fictional journalist Lindsay Gordon. “I had to have a sensitivity reader to read my Lindsay Gordon novels to tell me the things that I couldn’t say now,” she said. “I argued the case that these books were of their time and that it’s dishonest to try to make them read differently. “In most instances, I won my point. The few examples where I didn’t win my point were to do with race.” McDermid, a friend and confidante of the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, added: “I think it’s kind of interesting to look at novels that were written in a particular time. A lot has changed in 40 years. “But a book set in 1987 can’t suddenly have the sensibilities of a book that’s going to be published now.” Asked if she was offended by the imposition of a sensitivity reader she replied: “I was more amused than offended. “Rereading those novels again, there are things that I wouldn’t do now, because the world has changed. The characters would not behave in that way now, but I don’t see much point in going back and rewriting your earlier work to make it conform to the times now. “We need to have those earlier historic texts to understand how far we’ve come and how different it is now.” McDermid’s 1995 novel The Mermaids Singing has been retrospectively criticised for promoting “extraordinarily damaging stereotypes”. It features a transgender serial killer who abducts and tortures gay men. McDermid sponsored a stand at Raith Rovers’ stadium in Kirkcaldy from 2010 to demonstrate her lifelong support for the club. However, she removed her funding and ordered the branding be taken down in 2022 after the club signed the striker David Goodwillie, who had been ruled to have raped a woman and made to pay damages in a civil case in 2017. She instead transferred her sponsorship to the Raith Rovers women’s team who renamed themselves McDermid Ladies in her honour.