National Crime Writing Week from the Crime Writers' Association
June 13th - 19th 2011
Linda Stratmann giving her talk on William Whiteley and Victorian Bayswater at Paddington Library as part of National Crime Writing Week 2011
National Crime Writing Week - running between Monday June 13 and Sunday June 19, 2011 - saw events take place round the country: from Scotland to the Isle of Wight, in bookshops and libraries, not to mention London South Bank University and Booths Supermarket, Ulverston. We also received notice of events which missed NCWW by a day or so - and of course, there's a comprehensive listing of crime writing events on the CWA website.
Claire McGowan, Director of the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA), who organise National Crime Writing Week, said "CWA members will be holding many more events over the coming year, especially with our new campaign to support libraries. Our thanks to all the crime fiction fans who came to the events and helped support the week."
How Bloodthirsty is Britain?
To whet your appetite for a week of crime, the CWA carried out a survey of crime writers. We asked them, how many people have you 'killed'? And how did you do it?
Now the results are in. The average body count was 8.38 and the most people 'killed' by one author was 150. The most inventive means of killing included death by olive press and ordeal by euphonium! The survey made the trade press as well as The Guardian and other media.
Stars of the Future
A key part of the build up to National Crime Writing Week is the Young Crime Writers' Competition, again organised by the CWA in partnership with library authorities nationwide. We are delighted to announce that the CWA Young Crime Writer 2011 is 16 year old Claudia Hyde, whose story A Cushion Out of Place had been entered via Hammersmith Library in London.
The total number of entries received around the country increased this year and several regional judges commented that the standard of writing is even better than last year. For more information about the national shortlist and the overall winner, including a link to Claudia's winning story, see our 2011 Competition page.