STATEMENT ON CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) from Harrogate International Festivals It is with deep regret and sadness that Harrogate International Festivals has taken the decision to cancel this year’s Summer Season due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This includes the Harrogate Music Festival, Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Spiegeltent and Children’s Festival, as well as several outdoor theatre and community events.   This difficult decision was made after carefully assessing several factors, but most importantly the...

Martina Cole | Mark Billingham | Kathy Reichs Mick Herron | Lisa Gardner | Michael Connelly | Elly Griffiths   23-26 July 2020 | Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate   Harrogate, 4 March 2020: The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival have just announced its 2020 Special Guests at this crime fiction festival. Crime writing royalty Martina Cole, Mark Billingham, Lisa Gardner, Kathy Reichs, Elly Griffiths, Mick Herron and Michael Connelly will be appearing as part of the killer line-up...

The author awarded the highest honour in British crime writing, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger, has been announced. Martin Edwards joins icons of the genre who have been recognised with the accolade, including Ruth Rendell, Lee Child, Ann Cleeves, Ian Rankin, PD James, Colin Dexter, Reginald Hill, Lindsey Davies, Peter Lovesey, and John Le Carré. Praise for Martin: “Martin Edwards is not only a fine writer but he is also ridiculously knowledgeable about...

Ahem….   Bestselling author, LouiseMPhillips, is holding an 8-week course on successful #CrimeFiction writing, starting March 2020 IRISH WRITERS CENTRE -Unleash Your Dark Side ABOUT THE COURSE: Learn the secrets of successful crime-fiction writing with bestselling and award-winning crime author, Louise Phillips. On this course, participants will receive in-depth analysis of all aspects of great crime fiction, including the creation of memorable characters, planning, pace, dialogue, and narration. Many of Louise’s students have achieved great publication success, with some...

  Headline authors for CrimeFest – one of Europe’s biggest crime fiction conventions – have been announced. The 2020 convention sponsored by Specsavers is hosted from 4 to 7 June at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel and will feature icon of the genre, Lynda La Plante, the award-winning author of more than 30 internationally bestselling novels. La Plante was a pioneer with her 1980’s series, Widows. The show received the Hollywood treatment with a movie adaptation...

The Irish Film Institute will be screening true crime documentary and crime drama this coming February for interested in thrillers and true stories of legal pursuit. See listing and dates below: About Mr Jones Ambitious Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (James Norton) travels to Moscow in an attempt to secure an interview with none other than Stalin himself. Hearing rumours of a government-induced famine, Jones covertly visits Ukraine where he bears witness to the atrocities of man-made...

The best-selling writer behind the Inspector Rebus books has been unmasked as the programming chair for next year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. As a result, Ian Rankin – who has sold more than 20 million books and was awarded an OBE in 2002 for services to literature – has been charged with pulling together a “most wanted” list of guest authors and speakers to headline next year’s four-day event. Since its launch in 2003,...

CWA Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition Entries are being invited for the CWA Margery Allingham Short Story competition. This year, the competition has changed the weighting of its scoring system to match Margery Allingham’s definition of a Mystery. Entrants are asked to focus on specific elements to match the definition: “The Mystery remains box-shaped, at once a prison and a refuge. Its four walls are, roughly, a Crime, a Mystery, an Enquiry and a Conclusion...

If you’re looking for a Black Friday style deal for the crime fiction aficionado in your life, there’s only a few days left for the Early Bird offer for CrimeFest tickets.   Delegates have until 16 December to book a full pass for the four-day convention for just £165, when the price then goes up to £185.   The crime writing fraternity’s biggest convention, styled on the American model, returns 4-7 June, 2020. CrimeFest attracts...

Do you want to start, progress, or finish that dark, delicious crime novel of yours?? Well, if the answer is yes, I’m delighted to be running an 8 Week Crime Writing Workshop with the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin this coming March! I promise, I don’t look nearly as moody as the above photograph!! PLACES ARE LIMITED – EARLY BOOKING RECOMMENDED BOOKING LINK   Starts: Tues 3 Mar 2020 Time: 6.30pm – 8.30pm Duration: 8 Weeks...