I've always enjoyed CrimeFest, one of the friendliest and least cliquey of literary festivals, and this year's event in Bristol, splendidly organised as ever by Adrian Muller and Donna Moore, was certainly no exception. The weather was kind and despite the disruption of rail strikes, which caused some adjustment to my plans, I had much less arduous journey there and back than last year.
As a result, I arrived in good time for my first panel, 'Authors Remembered', which is a regular festival event. Christine Poulson wasn't able to take part because of illness, but happily she recovered and was able to come to Bristol the next day. As usual, the only problem with this panel was that there simply wasn't enough time to say everything about our fave writers that we'd have liked to fit in!
On Thursday evening, Antony Johnston and I teamed up to play 'Murdle', an interactive event based on G.T. Karber's bestselling book and hosted by Karber himself. He's an engaging chap and I enjoyed talking to him. The event proved, I have to say, to be rather more straightforward than the puzzles in the book. On Friday I had the pleasure of sharing lunch with Christina Koning and dinner with Ayo Onatade and it was good to have the chance of a really good conversation with two very delightful companions.
Saturday morning brought two more panels. I moderated a discussion about 'races against time' with Stan Trollip, Brian Price, Simon McCleave, and Michelle Kidd. And then Donna Moore chaired a discussion with me, Kate Griffin (author of the brilliant Fyneshade), Abir Mukherjee, and Christina Koning. I managed to watch some football in the afternoon and do a bit of wandering around town before the gala dinner. I didn't manage to win the eDunnit award, which went to Laura Lippman, but it was a great evening and I was glad to get together with David Brawn, editor of The Golden Age of Murder and The Life of Crime to discuss possible future projects. Then it was down to the bar for the last time... All in all, great fun.
Yes, another inspiring gathering at Bristol. I particularly enjoyed the interviews with Laura Lippman and Lynda la Plante.
ReplyDeleteLynda was a scream! She's publishing her memoirs later this year.
I did miss Peter Gutteridge and the annual quiz. I still feel sad that he was 'cancelled' for his transgressions.
Thanks, RJS. It was a pity that Peter wasn't there and let's hope he'll be back next year.
ReplyDeleteIt was so nice meeting you at CrimeFest! I really enjoyed the panels (mine and others) and had a wonderful time overall. So good to meet other crime writers and aficionados in such pleasant surroundings.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christina. Always nice to have a proper chat rather than a fleeting one! A great convention.
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