Harrogate Opening Evening

After attending Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival at the weekend, I'm a little overwhelmed with facts, information and stories of which to share and discuss on the blog. There is too much to cram into one post or to write about it in consecutive posts so I've decided to write about Thursday's opening event today then wait a couple of posts before discussing more. I don't want to give you Harrogate burnout yet I have so much enthusiasm after attending that I do want to share it with you.

The Weekend started in a relaxing way with an awards ceremony on the Thursday evening. Six great authors were shortlisted for crime novel of the year. All six nominated authors attended and were briefly interviewed on the stage.

The short list was:

From The Dead - Mark Billingham
Blood Harvest - S.J.Bolton
61 Hours - Lee Child
Dark Blood - Stuart MacBride
The Holy Thief - William Ryan
The Anatomy of ghosts - Andrew Taylor


The award winner was Lee Child with the book 61 Hours. He was a gracious winner who stated he would have been happy to come in sixth behind his fellow nominated authors.

The presentation of the lifetime achievement award was something I feel privileged to have been present for. The award was given to P.D.James who at 90 years of age received a standing ovation as she walked to the stage. You could feel the love and respect for her in the packed room. She has a crime writing career spanning decades, with her first novel, Cover her Face being published in 1962. I felt truly honoured to be present.

After the awards we moved to the opening night party where Theakstons Old Peculiar was on tap or, for those of us not up to drinking pints if beer, red and white wine were available. Armed with a glass of red I mingled with published and aspiring crime writers, crime readers and bloggers. I met some wonderful people whom I am now pleased to call friends.