Showing posts with label Sunday Independent Books 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunday Independent Books 2008. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Heist Of Crime Writers?

It’s a murder of crows, so it’ll have to be a heist of crime writers. Anyhoo, it’s the same all over, I know, so you won’t be too surprised to learn that crime fiction in Ireland is generally regarded as the idiot half-brother to the more suavely literary end of things. That may be about to change, however – hot on the heels of the Mystery Readers’ Journal ‘Irish Mysteries’ issue comes the news that the ‘Sunday Independent Books 2008’ literary festival will take place in Dublin over the first weekend in September, and that the powers-that-be have decreed that the festival will include a number of panels on Irish crime writing. Huzzah! The crime writing element offers a pretty strong line-up, with John Connolly, Tana French, Colin Bateman, Declan Hughes, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Gene Kerrigan, Brian McGilloway, Arlene Hunt and Alex Barclay so far confirmed to come together to plot that one last heist. Oh, and some chancing wastrel called (koff) Declan Burke will be there too. Further details will be forthcoming as they arrive at the Grand Vizier’s lair, and the official website should be up and running early next week. Stay tooned, folks …
Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.