 August 2008
Before I knew it, it was time for the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, sponsored by Theakstons, who also support the Theakstons' Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year prize, an award I picked up a couple of years ago for THE TORMENT OF OTHERS. This year, I was invited to chair the panel of judges who decide, along with the votes of thousands of readers, who will carry off this coveted prize. It was a touch decision, given the quality of the dozen books on the shortlist, but in the end, the decision to give the TOP prize to Stef Penney for THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES was unanimous. Our decision landed us in the middle of the latest 'literary fiction versus genre fiction' debate. Stef Penney's wonderful novel had already won the Costa Book of the Year prize (formerly the Whitbread) which is unequivocally seen as a literary prize. But it's a novel whose events are set in train by a murder, which centres round the various investigations of that crime and which ends with a resolution of that crime. Seems to me that's pretty much the definition of a crime novel. The fact that it's beautifully written doesn't exclude it from the canon of crime fiction, although that seemed to be the attitude of at least one journalist who accused me of leading the judges in a 'land grab' to make our genre respectable. Nothing could have been further from the truth of what happened in the judges' room. But now that Tom Rob Smith's CHILD 44 has made it to the Man Booker shortlist, I'm sure the carping isn't going to stop. I'm reminded of a comment made by my friend Laura Lippman, who once said that literary fiction is always judged on its best exemplars, while genre fiction is judged on its worst. This isn't a new discussion, and I'm sure it won't be the last time it rears its head, but I will keep on saying that the best of contemporary crime writing can stand shoulder to shoulder with any kind of novel.
Harrogate wasn't all about the Theakston's prize, though. I had enormous fun as part of the balloon debate on Friday evening - a very strange event where Mark Lawson from BBC R4's Front Row presided over half a dozen crime writers representing six dead giants of the genre and trying to justify their place in an imaginary hot air balloon that was losing height by the minute. Probably the strangest experience was seeing Stuart MacBride with a raven sock puppet sounding like Peter Lorre channelling Edgar Allan Poe. Thought I have to confess I never imagined when I took up crime writing that one day I would be standing on a stage with a 4:50 FROM PADDINGTON tote bag on my head impersonating Agatha Christie (who came out sounding weirdly like the Queen...) The things we do to amuse our audience.
On a more serious note, we also had a fascinating debate on the issue of whether women or men write the most graphic violence. Unlike the ruck that the media created last summer between myself and Ian Rankin, this was a serious conversation that generated more light than heat. I'm indebted in particular to Mark Billingham whose intelligent and measured approach made it possible to have a meaningful discussion about something that exercises every one of us who takes seriously the work they do in this genre.
Apart from that, though, it was Harrogate as usual. Stimulating conversations, too much food and drink, too many late nights and too little time for bridge left me exhausted but high as a kite. I love Harrogate. I love the chance it gives me to catch up with writers I admire such as Robert Crais, Natasha Cooper, Allan Guthrie and Steve Mosby. There's nowhere like it, nothing like it anywhere else in the crime fiction calendar. The energy, the good humour and the information imparted are unrivalled. We all still have so much to learn - I 'taught' a masterclass with screen writer Stuart Hepburn, and I genuinely felt I got as much out of it as the audience. It's great to come away from a weekend like this bursting with rekindled enthusiasm.
Photo: Harrogate alumni Jane Gregory, Laura Wilson, Simon Kernick, Val McDermid, and Mark Billingham. Picture by Ali Karim |
18 December 2009
16 November 2009
09 November 2009
03 November 2009
23 October 2009
19 October 2009
08 October 2009
30 September 2009
Saturday 3 October
09 September 2009
09 September 2009
09 September 2009 
02 September 2009 
31 August 2009 
06 August 2009 
23 June 2009 
18 April 2009 
10 April 2009 
13 January 2009 
06 November 2008 
September 2008
March 2008
