SPECSAVERS DEBUT CRIME NOVEL AWARD PANEL

 Message from
Adrian & Donna,
CRIMEFEST organisers.

 

The real pubs may now be opening, but we did have a successful virtual CRIMEFEST Pub Quiz last month.
Thank you to quiz master Peter Guttridge
and all of you who showed up!

 

We are so disappointed not to be able to welcome you to CRIMEFEST in Bristol this year and clink drinks in person. With all the authors scheduled, Donna had created an intriguing itinerary. We would have liked to recreate them digitally but, with close to fifty of them, it wasn’t possible.

However, with an inaugural new award this year, and the ever-popular ‘Debut Authors: An Infusion of Fresh Blood’ panels, we did record a Zoom panel yesterday that will get you itching to add to your bedside table book pile.

 

Featuring five of the six authors nominated for the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, the panel is brought to you by moderator extraordinaire, and crime fiction reviewer for the Telegraph,
Jake Kerridge.

 

Thank you to nominees Fiona Erskine, Katja Ivar, Carolyn Kirby, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and Holly Watt for the fascinating insight into their debut novels.
Sadly, Alex Michaelides was unable to participate; we wish all of them the best of luck with the award, and we’re thrilled to acknowledge the big contribution these newcomers make to the genre.

 

Making the recording possible was Simon Bewick of Bewick Consulting, author Antony Johnston for post-production and, of course, Jake. So put your glasses on (you left them on the kitchen table, uh no, they’re perched on your head!) and watch the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award Panel.

 

It will also be available in the VIDEO ARCHIVE on the CRIMEFEST website soon.

NHS NOIR AT THE BAR ANTHOLOGY

Last month we mentioned Afraid of the Light, a short story collection to help raise funds for the charity Samaritans. This month we would like to highlight an anthology benefitting NHS charities. The aforementioned Simon Bewick is one of the people who makes the popular online Virtual Noir at the Bar sessions happen.

 

He is also one of the organisers of Noir from the Bar: 30 Crime and Mystery Shorts. With too many contributors to mention all, authors include Sharon Bolton, Neil Broadfoot, Philippa East, Louise Mangos, Robert Scragg, Zoë Sharp, Eve Smith and many more. If you are a lover of crime fiction, short stories or the NHS, buy your copy now.

CRIMEFEST CHARITIES
Another June newsletter mention was CRIMEFEST’s official charity, the library of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), and our 2020 guest charity, Gingerbread, nominated by Martina Cole.

 

This time we wanted to highlight the Trussell Trust, which works to stop UK hunger and poverty. They are the charity benefiting from an online event that took place from 2-4 July: Two Crime Writers and a Microphone - The Locked Up Festival. It was organised by crime writers Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste (creators of the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcasts). You may have missed the festival and its incredibly impressive line-up, but you can still donate to the charity. And, should the Locked Up Festival panels become available, we will be sure to let you know!

And, finally…

(Back issues of the CRIMEFEST newsletter are available here.)

For now, stay safe.

 If you have difficulty reading any of this you need to visit specsavers

Specsavers

proud sponsors of

CRIMEFEST

the international crime fiction convention

www.crimefest.com
13-16 May, 2021

 

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