September was also time for the Bloody Scotland event in Stirling and Joan Fleming shares her experience of the weekend below.
Bloody Scotland 2015
Having
attended – and enjoyed – Bloody Scotland
last year, I once again spent the weekend of 11-13 September in Stirling, where
the 2015 Crime Festival was held. I had the company of two other members of
Erskine Writers, Myra (Duffy) and Bill (Daly). We caught fleeting glimpses of Alanna
(Knight) and Sandra (Alex Gray), members of the original small group who set up
the Festival – now in its fourth year.
On
the Friday, there was a whole-day crime writing masterclass, featuring Denise
Mina, Allan Guthrie and Alexandra Sokoloff.
The
programme of events offered sessions with famous crime writers appearing at the
venues to share their writing experience in rooms filled, mainly, with readers
and writers of crime fiction, but also people living in and around the city of Stirling.
Once
again we were spoiled for choice. This year, I attended sessions where I heard,
among others:
Val
McDermid
Peter
May
Ian
Rankin
Alexandra
Sokoloff
Allan
Guthrie
Alex
Gray
Chris
Brookmyre
Arne
Dahl.
These
are all well-known names in crime fiction. There were also less famous writers,
some of whom will no doubt be featured on the programme in years to come.
For
the novice crime writers, there was an opportunity to pitch their books to
publishers and an agent, and this year some début authors were showcased at the
start of some of the big events.
At
the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Gala Dinner, last year’s winner, Peter May
presented the award to Craig Russell for his book The Ghosts of Altona.
There
is so much more to say about this Festival of crime writing – all the details
can be found on the website https://www.bloodyscotland.com/news/ Why not take a look?
Joan Fleming
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