The
crime writing industry’s self-appointed Annual General Meeting, with a twist,
returns. Known as the friendliest festival with its feet firmly on Yorkshire
ground, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival guarantees thrills,
and a few spills at the hotel bar, as thousands descend for one, long summer
weekend.
The
2016 Special Guest line-up has been announced.
‘King
of the police procedural’ Peter James, who recently won the Crime Writers’
Association’s highest honour, the CWA Diamond Dagger award, takes the helm as
Programming Chair.
Audiences
are invited to grab a pint of Yorkshire’s finest ale, and dip into an
intoxicating mix of comedy, heated debate and scintillating socialising.
Heading
to Harrogate for the 14th festival are Jeffery Deaver, Martina Cole, Neil
Cross, Linwood Barclay, Tess Gerritsen, Val McDermid and Gerald Seymour.
Best
known for his Roy Grace detective series, Peter James promises an ambitious
programme for what he calls ‘the biggest
celebration of the genre in the world’. The programme will have an
international flavour to celebrate the genres’ global dominance.
Peter
said: “You can open up the world from
your armchair, and so in 2016, I’d like to invite you all on a flight of fancy
– an exploration of this enthralling genre that spans the globe…. There will be
the Giants of the Genre we’ve come to expect from a Festival as brilliant as
Harrogate and a wealth of stellar names will be announced over the coming weeks.”
Jeffery
Deaver, the award-winning author of 33 internationally bestselling novels,
will be Interviewed by BBC broadcaster and author Mark Lawson. One of the
world's most successful thriller writers, Deaver is best known for his Lincoln
Rhyme thrillers.
Continuing
the success of injecting comedians into the mix, The ‘Queen of Crime’ and
co-founder of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Val McDermid,
will be in conversation with Edinburgh Festival hit, Susan Calman, a familiar
face on shows such as Have I Got News for
You, 8 out of 10 Cats and Would I Lie to You.
The
hard-hitting author Martina Cole is a phenomenon, selling in excess of fourteen
million books and the first British female novelist for adult audiences to
surpass the £50 million sales mark. She’ll be in conversation with Peter
James.
Award-winning
novelist and screenwriter Neil Cross is best-known as the creator of the
international hit BBC series, Luther, starring Idris Elba, as well as a writer
on Spooks and Doctor Who. Tess Gerritsen, a physician turned author known as the
‘medical suspense queen’, is published in forty countries with more than 30
million copies of her books sold worldwide.
The
American-born Canadian Linwood Barclay, a former journalist and columnist, is
the bestselling author of 13 detective novels including Trust Your Eyes, A Tap on the
Window and No Time for Goodbye.
He’ll be in conversation with Mark Billingham.
Gerald
Seymour was a high-profile reporter and foreign correspondent at ITN before
becoming an acclaimed novelist. His ground-breaking thriller Harry’s Game was an instant hit in 1975;
he recently published his 32nd book, No
Mortal Things. He’ll be put under the forensic spotlight by Joe Haddow, Producer of the BBC Radio 2 Book Club.
The
Festival is famed for its no barriers approach. Readers and authors alike meet
their heroes, as well as the Next Big
Things, thanks to McDermid’s annual New Blood panel, which cherry picks the
best debut novels of the year.
Gemma
Rowland, Literature Festivals Manager at Harrogate International Festivals –
the arts charity that delivers the event - said:
“Everyone says the Theakstons Old Peculier
Crime Writing Festival just gets better and better, so it’s quite a pressure
for each new Chair but there’s few people so perfect for the role than Peter
James. Peter brings his unique flair, alongside his remarkable standing in the
genre. The 2016 programme is ambitious: international in breadth, intelligent
in design.”
Audiences
are welcomed to be inspired and join in the drama at Agatha Christie’s old
haunt, the luxurious Old Swan Hotel, where up to 90 authors will gather from
the 21-24 July.
The
event features the 12th Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year
Awards in partnership with WHSmith and the Radio Times. The festival also sees
the return of the day-long creative writing workshop for aspiring writers,
Creative Thursday.
Last
year, the Festival sold almost 14,000 tickets, staging over 30 events.
Tickets
are now on sale for all Special Guest events, with Weekend Break Packages
available from £350 per person for 3 nights’ B&;B accommodation, including a
Weekend Rover Ticket, lunches at the Old Swan Hotel and a Festival Goody Bag.
Day and Weekend Rover tickets without accommodation are also now available. For
more information, or to book, visit www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com or
call the team on 01423 562303.
August 2026
