Cheltenham's Literary Festival programme and booking is now up and running (October 10-19). This year Kate Adie and Ian Rankin are "Festival Guest Directors" and they get to "curate" a weekend each, by the looks of it. With Rankin involved, there are no surprises that a decent cache of crime writers are involved and more on that later. But let's start with the writing workshops that Cheltenham runs every year.
Andrew Taylor has been there for a few years now and this year he's "Setting the Scene" in a workshop on Monday 13 Oct, 10am- 1pm, for £20.
Mark Billingham workshops "Writing Crime" on Sunday 19 Oct, 2-5pm, for £20.
Stella Duffy, who writes crime fiction and far more, provides a whole weekend workshop on "Creative Fiction Writing" for £75, taking place over 11 and 12 October, from 11am to 5pm daily.
Now, for the less participative events where you get to listen and ask questions at the end (focusing on crime or crime-related):
Sat 11/10 Alexander McCall Smith, £8, 12-1pm.
Sun 12/10 Ben Macintyre takes a look at Ian Fleming, 10-11am, £7.
Tues 14/10 Ruth Rendell, £7, 6-7pm explores her Barbara Vine writing.
Wed 15/10 C. J. Sansom creator of the Tudor 'tec Shardlake joins Clare Clark to talk about historical novels. £6, 2-3pm.
Sat 18/10 Gyles Brandreth talks about "Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death", his latest crime venture involving the ever-witty, real life OW. £7, 12-1pm.
Sat 18/10 Minette Walters comes out to play after a long absence from the lit circuit's festivals. She joins Rankin to explore the forensic developments and how writers need to keep abreast of them, with forensic pathologists Stephen Leadbetter and Anthony Busuttil. £6, 8.45-9.45pm.
Sat 18/10 Rankin joins Toby Litt and Doug Johnstone to discuss music. £6, 1-2pm.
Sun 19/10 Rankin joins his friend Jack Vettriano to explore the visual arts. £9, 4-5pm.
Sun 19/10 Rankin joins Frances Fyfield and Russell James to "investigate the British crime fiction scene and ask where it might be heading next".
In the brochure, Guest Director Rankin says this:
"1968 is one of my favourite years, I was only eight at the time, but I appreciate the music, film, and literature that came out of that period of social and cultural turmoil. Forty years on, my weekend of curating at Cheltenham will see some of my favourite authors, performers, thinkers and doers look back to notions of censorship, sex, and the taboo, as well as looking forward at the future of the written word and the so-called 'creative industries'. There will be art, crime, dissent and even perhaps a helping of controversy. It should be fun."
So you get the flavour of Rankin's involvement...
On the real crime side, I have to draw your attention to Misha Glenny who is near the opening of festival on Friday 10/10 at 2-3pm, £6. I caught him and his book McMafia at the Oxford LitFest earlier this year. If you want to better understand the risks we face right now and the way crime propels across Europe and beyond, this is a book for you.
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