Category: Blog

I’ve just got back from Harrogate Crime Writing Festival which is something of a fixture in many writers, editors, agents and readers’ calendars. It was my second year going and here are my thoughts, broken down into an easily digestible Top 3 awesome things, and Bottom 3 not so great things…

Top Harrogate Fabulousnesses

1. Dragons’ Pen

Dragons’ Pen is part of the Creative Thursday Writers’ Day at the start of the festival. It’s chaired by Mark Billingham and gives attendees on Creative Thursday the chance to put their name in a bowl for the chance to do a 2 minute (and 2 minutes only!) pitch to a panel of agents and publishers. It’s fascinating to see how the editors and agents react and how different authors talk about their own work and it’s a real insight into how to put across your idea as succinctly and attractively as possible.

And yes, I did take part, and yes, it was terrifying. (But it went ok – phew!)

2. The random one-to-one and small group chats

The multi-day format and the open grounds and beer tent give lots of chances to just run into people you sort of half know, or maybe know online but not in person, or who are just completely new to you, and get chatting. And generally writing and publishing people are delightful and so pleased to be out of their lonely writing garrets amongst their people that they’ll chat to anyone. So I met, or caught up with, lots of people I rarely get to see in person.

3. The panels

The beer tent and the sitting in the sunshine are such a big part of Harrogate that it’s really tempting to just buy a site pass and hang out, but actually I was super glad I forked out for a full pass with access to all the events this year, because hearing brilliant, smart writers talking about writing is one of the most inspiring things. 

My top sessions were Dorothy Koomson, who is beyond fabulous, and The Lie of the Land panel which started off talking about setting and location but flowed into writing as catharsis, characterisation, and was genuinely moving and thought-provoking. 

 

And what’s not so great.

1. The beer tent gets very hot and the bins in there get very stinky;
2. The sheer number and noise of that many people can be deeply overwhelming. Walking up to groups and trying to chat is genuinely scary for many of us (including me) and gathering yourself to do it takes a lot of mental energy; and
3. Because of the sheer scale of the event you inevitably don’t get chance to see everyone you might like to. This morning I am mostly seeing pictures on social media from people I know and never spotted at all the whole weekend. Ah well, maybe next year…

And if that’s not enough Harrogate perspective here are my thoughts from last year when I was a first-time, and honestly did find the whole thing quite overwhelming