Every year
I ponder how the crew behind the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival
will top the previous
year’s festivities – and each year they do.
I decided
to book my place early, as 2019 looks spectacular, as this press release indicates,
so see you there.
This year’s Programming Chair is
the award-winning author Mari Hannah, bringing icons of the genre to the Old
Swan Hotel, Harrogate.
One of the biggest-selling authors of all time, James
Patterson, will make his first appearance at the Festival. Patterson has
sold more than 375 million books worldwide and currently holds the Guinness
World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers.
James Patterson said: “I’m really looking forward to coming to
Harrogate this year and meeting my UK fans.”
Jo Nesbo’s UK launch of his much-anticipated new Harry Hole
thriller, Knife, will also take place at the Festival. The Scandi-noir
climber, rock star and former professional footballer has sold over 40 million
books in 50 languages.
MC Beaton, author of Agatha Raisin adapted for Sky TV starring
Ashley Jenson, will be in conversation with the #1 Sunday Times bestselling
author of the Logan McRae series, Stuart MacBride.
Former attorney Jeffery Deaver has sold over 50 million books with
The Bone Collector adapted to film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina
Jolie. Deaver will introduce his new series, The Never Game.
A trio of powerhouse authors, Belinda Bauer, Eva Dolan and Erin
Kelly, will share a stage. Bauer rocked the literary world when she was
longlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize for her novel, Snap. Eva Dolan’s
standalone, This is How it Ends, is one of the most critically acclaimed
thrillers of the year. Erin Kelly’s novels have been adapted for TV and
dominated the bestseller lists, with her latest, Stone Mothers, an irresistible
novel of psychological suspense.
Master of the suburban thriller and Netflix collaborator, Harlan
Coben, is the perennial #1 New York Times author of 30 novels. The
American will be in conversation with Rebus creator, Ian Rankin.
Val McDermid, who co-founded the Festival with literary agent Jane
Gregory and arts charity Harrogate International Festivals in 2003, will also
be in conversation with Scotland’s First Minister, and bookworm, Nicola
Sturgeon.
The writer behind BBC1’s phenomenal The Bodyguard, Jed Mercurio,
also stars. With viewing figures exceeding 10 million, The Bodyguard,
starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes, returned us to a time when a TV show
could be a national event. One of the most successful TV writers at work
today, Mercurio is behind many hit series, including Line of Duty.
2019 marks the 16th Festival.
Programming Chair, Mari Hannah, said: “Announcing James
Patterson in my year as Festival Chair is a huge honour. Harrogate has a
reputation for its powerhouse Special Guests. Every year, the programming
committee work hard to attract the very best crime writers to the festival from
around the world. The response to 2019’s line-up has been incredible. I’m
looking forward to welcoming readers in July.”
Alongside the starry headline names, the Theakston Old Peculier is
renowned for supporting emerging talent, with Val McDermid’s annual New Blood
panel and a day-long creative writing workshop, Creative Thursday.
It is also a hotbed of debate. Famed for its no barriers approach,
fans, fledgling writers and established superstar authors mingle in the hotel
bar. Around 90 authors take part over four days of panels, late night events,
and author dinners. The full programme of events will be announced in April.
The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is one of the
most important events in the crime publishing calendar. Agents, publishers,
publicists, readers and authors attend from all over Europe and the
world.
ENDS
The 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing
Festival takes place at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate 18-21 July.
Rover
Tickets are on sale from Tuesday 19th February at 10am. Weekend
Rover: £236, Friday Rover: £93, Saturday Rover: £105. Box office: 01423 562
303, or Book online harrogateinternationalfestivals.com
The Theakston Old Peculier
Crime Writing Festival
The Theakston 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 (18-21 July, 2019) at the Old Swan Hotel in
Harrogate, the Festival programmes over 90 best-selling UK and international
crime authors and over 30 events. It is delivered by the north of England’s
leading arts festival organisation, Harrogate International
Festivals.
About Mari Hannah
Mari Hannah is an award-winning author who became a writer after
her career as a Probation Officer was cut short following an assault on duty.
For several years, Mari was a scriptwriter with an eye on a career in film or
TV. This took off after pitching a crime pilot to the BBC based on the
characters in her then unfinished debut novel The Murder Wall, winning a place
on the BBC’s North East Voices Drama Development Scheme, adapting the script to
a crime novel when it ended.
That award-winning book and seven others were published by Pan
Macmillan before she moved to Orion in 2017. Mari’s ninth book The Lost, the
first in a series featuring DI David Stone and DS Frankie Oliver, was published
in the spring of 2018. The tenth – The Insider – followed in November. Her
third Stone & Oliver novel, The Scandal, will launch on March 7, 2019.
Photo Credits: Charlotte Graham, Ali Karim
and the Authors / Publishers publicity shots
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