Grab your notepad and pen and get some real festival action at 'Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival'

Tomorrow afternoon the Killer Reads team heads to Harrogate for its annual Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. With our very own Stuart MacBride presiding over events, this year promises to be one of the best yet!

If you’re at Harrogate this year, here’s where you can find our authors:

If you’re lucky enough to have bagged yourself a place on the Creative Thursday crime writing workshop, look out for HarperCollins’ Crime and Thriller Publisher, and my boss, Julia Wisdom. She will be taking to the stage as a judge on a ‘Dragon’s Pen’ panel composed of some of the top industry professionals. Earlier in the day, there is also an intensive workshop with Stuart MacBride and Allan Guthrie focussing especially on ‘Character, Narrative and Voice’ – another unmissable event for all the budding authors out there.

At the opening party on Thursday night, we’ll be waiting with bated breath to hear who from the outstanding shortlist has won the 6^th Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. And of course, we’ll be cheering on Reginald Hill as he receives the Outstanding Contribution Award for his many years of fantastic and memorable writing.

Friday sees Stuart MacBride getting up bright and early to introduce the festival’s special guest Christopher Brookmyre. And after lunch S.J. Parris, author of Heresy, takes part in a panel discussing crime fiction which uses the lens of the past or the future, alongside Laura Wilson, R.S. Downie and Paul Johnston. Later on, Agatha Christie is in the spotlight as the festival celebrates the 120^th anniversary of the birth of the ‘Queen of Crime’. Andrew Taylor and her grandson Matthew Pritchard are on the panel, examining her enduring appeal and the secret to her success.

On Saturday afternoon, James Twining flies the flag for Blighty in ‘Britannia Rules The Page’, looking at the wonderful heritage of British crime writing through the years. That evening there’s another chance to meet S.J. Parris and eat some delicious food at the ‘Come Dine with Me Murder Mystery Dinner’.

And finally – for all you Tweeters, there’s a tweet-up in The Crown Hotel where the festival is held, running from 6pm till the wee hours of the morning – for more info click here.

It promises to be a great festival and we all hope to see you there!