2020 St Hilda’s College Crime Fiction Weekend - All Our Yesterdays: historical crime fiction

St Hilda’s College Crime Fiction Weekend is a weekend with a difference. Launched at St Hilda's College in 1994, it offers the crime fiction fans the unique experience of hearing their favourite authors exploring the genre, their own work and the writers who inspired them.

This year the theme is ‘All Our Yesterdays’: historical crime fiction  and will take place from 14 to 16 August 2020.  Featured speakers include:

Val McDermid, Mick Herron, William Shaw, Sarah Hilary, Andrew Taylor, Alison Joseph, Jake Kerridge, Abir Mukherjee, Vaseem Khan, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Elly Griffiths and Tom Wood.

Taking place in the heart of Oxford in a glorious riverside location the St Hilda’s Weekend includes not only the speaker sessions, but a massive Blackwell's shop open on site every day, author signings, prizes and a brimming goodie bag all enjoyed in a relaxed, intimate College atmosphere. Beginning on Friday evening with a dinner and drinks reception, the packed weekend finishes with a traditional lunch on Sunday.

Programme details to follow soon.

The PD James Conference Dinner is held on Saturday night – proceeds go to the PD James Fund which supports the work of the English School and students at St Hilda’s College, kindly endowed by Honorary Fellow P. D. James.  When booking, the opportunity is available to make an additional voluntary donation to the P.D. James Memorial Fund.

About St Hilda’s

St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, is on the banks of the River Cherwell overlooking the meadows and spires of the city. Its lovely gardens sweep down to the river, which is famous for punting and picnics. The centre of Oxford is a few minutes walk away, but the College itself lies in a pleasantly secluded area away from the noise and bustle of the city. B&B is offered and can be extended before or after the conference. Access by train is good and there are excellent coach services to Oxford from Central London and from Heathrow & Gatwick airports. Parking may be available for conference guests.

Accommodation

If you would like to stay at St Hilda's, accommodation can be requested through the Conference and Events Team here or via 01865 276 888 or by email to Sarah Brett. Once you have made your request, a member of the team will advise you of availability and direct you to our payments page. Your booking is not confirmed until payment has been received. 

The number of rooms available is limited so you are advised to book early.                                                                                               
Single Ensuite B&B £53.04
Twin  Ensuite B&B per person per night £38.10
Single Standard B&B £42.60
Twin  Standard B&B per person per night £24.78

Queries

For further information including any special requirements not mentioned on this site please call Triona Adams at St Hilda's College Development Office 01865 276 828.

Crime Fiction at the Oxford Literary Festival

As part of the St Hilda's College day at this year's Oxford Literary Festival actress and writer Charlie Covell whom many will remember from being in the first series of Marcella will be talking about her adaptation of Charlie S Forman's graphic comic series The End of the F***ing World for Channel 4. 


In The End of the F***ing World James is 17 and is pretty sure he is a psychopath.   Alyssa who is also 17, is the cool and moody new girl at the school they both attend. James and Alyssa make a connection and James is soon persuaded by her to embark on a road trip in search of her real father. But not everything works to plan.


For further information about the event and how buy tickets see here.

In Memoriam

Margaret Yorke  

©Curtis Brown

January 1924 to November 2012

Crime writer Margaret Yorke has died at the age of 88. Best known for her standalone novels her first novel Summer Flight was published in 1957.  Her first book in the Dr Patrick Grant series Dead in the Morning was published in 1970 and introduced readers to her Oxford Don investigator.  She went on to write four more books in the series.  The author of over 40 novels she also contributed to over 20 anthologies.  All five books in the Patrick Grant series were re-issued in May 2012.  Her novel The Point of Murder was made into a TV movie Kiss of a Killer in 1993.

During the war, she served in the Woman's Royal Naval Service as a driver.  She then worked in the libraries of two Oxford colleges (Assistant Librarian.  St. Hilda's College, Oxford, 1959-60) and was the first woman ever to work in Christ Church library.  She was also a campaigner for Public Lending Rights for authors in Britain.

Her works are mostly set in small English villages and feature ordinary people caught up in trouble ranging from juvenile delinquency to marital issues to random acts of violence.

Chairman of the Crime Writers Association between 1979 and 1980 she was awarded the CWA’s highest award the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 1999 for her outstanding contribution to the genre.  In 1982, she also received the Martin Beck Award from the Swedish Academy of Detection for her novel The Scent of Fear (1980).  In 1993, she was awarded the Golden Handcuffs (now known as the Dagger in the Library) by the CWA.  Her novel The Smooth Face of Evil (1984) was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award.  Well respected and regarded by the crime writing community, she will be sorely missed.

L-R- Peter Lovesey, Lindsey Davis, Margaret Yorke & Aranud Bamberger (May 2011)