Sarah
Hilary has tonight (16 July 2015, 9pm) scooped the Theakstons Old Peculier
Crime Novel of the Year Award for Someone
Else’s Skin.
Celebrating
its eleventh year, the Award is considered one of the most coveted crime
writing prizes in the country.
Sarah
Hilary’s compelling first thriller received critical acclaim for being superbly
disturbing, twisty and tricksy.
Hilary
said: “To win this award for my debut
crime novel is simply amazing. I’d like to thank my publishers, Headline, my
editor Vicki Mellor, and of course my stupendous agent Jane Gregory. This is my
fourth year at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, I didn’t
think it could get any better, but it just did.”
Hilary
was presented the award by title sponsor Simon Theakston and broadcaster Mark
Lawson at the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing
Festival. The annual Festival, hosted in Harrogate, is the world’s biggest
celebration of the genre.
She
beat off stiff competition from the shortlist of six, whittled down from a
longlist of 18 titles published by British and Irish authors over the last
year.
The
2015 Award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The
Radio Times. Hilary collected a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade oak
cask provided by Theakstons Old Peculier.
Simon
Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston, said:
“It was a very tough decision as it is every
year as all the books on the shortlist were outstanding but I’m delighted to
hand the trophy to Sarah.”
A
special presentation was made to Sara Paretsky - the winner of the sixth
Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award.
Sara
said: “When I created VI Warshawski, she
created a few seismic shockwaves for being a female detective with gumption.
I’m proud of that, and today it’s amazing to be recognised for that legacy and
to see so many female characters in the genre who are more than just a vamp or
victim. This is such a prestigious award, not least because of the previous
winners in whose footsteps I follow - PD James, Ruth Rendell, Reginald Hill and
Colin Dexter. It’s amazing to be the first American to infiltrate this list”.
“I am so delighted to be here at
Harrogate. To be part of the Festival has long been one of my goals… and
what an honour to receive this award – I am both touched and excited to receive
it. Thank you all so much.”
Paretsky
joins Lynda La Plante, Ruth Rendell, PD James, Colin Dexter and Reginald Hill
as recipients of the Award.
During
the ceremony, the 2015 Festival Programming Chair Ann Cleeves and author Val
McDermid paid tribute to PD James and Ruth Rendell, who received the
Outstanding Contribution awards in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
The
Chicago author revolutionized crime fiction in 1982 when she introduced V I
Warshawski in Indemnity Only. By
creating a believable investigator with the grit and the smarts to tackle
problems on the mean streets, Paretsky challenged a genre in which women
typically were either vamps or victims. Hailed by critics and readers, Indemnity Only was followed by fifteen
more best-selling Warshawski novels.
Simon
Theakston added: “It’s a great privilege
to welcome Sara Paretsky to Harrogate to celebrate her extraordinary
achievements. This award acknowledges her huge contribution to a genre she has
helped shape, not only with her own work, but by paving the way for new waves
of female crime writers.”
ENDS
For
further information please contact Ann Chadwick at Cause UK 07534892715/ann@causeuk.com
NOTES
TO EDITOR
The
shortlist in full:
The Facts Of Life And Death by Belinda
Bauer, Transworld
The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin,
Mantle/ Pan Macmillan
The Outcast Dead by Elly Griffiths,
Quercus
Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary,
Headline
The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia
Hodgson, Hodder & Stoughton
Entry Island by Peter May, Quercus
1.
KEY AWARD DATES
21st May
– 18 longlist titles feature in a 4-week campaign in 600 WHSmith stores
nationwide
15th June
– shortlist of 6 announced
18th June
- 6 shortlist titles feature in a 6-week campaign in 600 WHSmith stores
nationwide
1st July
– online voting opens to the public at www.theakstons.co.uk
13th
July - public voting closes for the shortlist
16th
July: winner announced at Award ceremony on Opening Night of Theakstons Old
Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate (8pm, Thu 16 July)
2.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
2005
– Lazy Bones by Mark Billingham
2006
– The Torment of Others by Val McDermid
2007
– Two Way Split by Allan Guthrie
2008
– The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
2009
– Death Message by Mark Billingham
2010
- A Simple Act of Violence by RJ Ellory
2011
– 61 Hours by Lee Child
2012
– The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina
2013
– Beasts and Gods, by Denise Mina
2014
– Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer
3.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The
Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is Europe’s largest event
dedicated to the celebration of crime fiction. Taking place annually over four
days each July (this year: 16-19 July), the Festival programmes over 80
best-selling UK and international crime authors and over 20 events. It is
organised and promoted by the north of England’s leading arts festival
organisation, Harrogate International Festivals. Ranked in the top three
literary festivals in the UK by The Guardian, it is also featured in the
Independent ‘50 Best Festivals’.
2015
Special Guests include Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Lisa Gardner, Sally
Wainwright, Mark Billingham, Eddie Izzard, MC Beaton, Arnaldur Indridason, Lee
Child and Sara Paretsky.
4.
ABOUT THEAKSTONS
Title
sponsor of the Festival since 2005, Theakstons Old Peculier ale is produced by
T & R Theakston Ltd. It is one of the country’s most famous and highly
regarded traditional ale brewers. Theakstons was established in Masham, North
Yorkshire in 1827 by Robert Theakston. After a brief period in the 1980s when
the company was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle plc, the company has been
back under family ownership since autumn 2003. It now operates as an
independent brewer producing five permanent brands in the Theakstons range
including the iconic Old Peculier – its best-known beer with a rich, dark
flavour, celebrated by ale enthusiasts all over Britain and around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment