L-R: (back) Dreda Say Mitchell, Martyn Waites, Jane Gregory, Laura Wilson, Simon Theakston, Selina Walker, Stuart MacBride; (front) NJ Cooper

Some of the biggest names in the crime writing world gathered last night in Harrogate to celebrate the launch of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival programme. Described by Festival Chief Executive Sharon Canavar as “one of the strongest line-ups yet”, the world-famous crime festival will welcome such genre giants as Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, and this year’s Festival Chair, Stuart MacBride.

The murderous mix of events will take place on 22^nd – 25^th July 2010 at The Crown Hotel, Harrogate. Highlights includes a celebration of 120 years of Agatha Christie; special guest appearances from Christopher Brookmyre, Jeffery Deaver and Joanne Harris; a series of debates guaranteed to raise temperatures including: are the Brits the best crime writers in the world?; and the much anticipated introduction to the “new blood” writers – a showcase of the most exciting emerging talent on the scene.

This year, in an exciting new collaboration to mark the programme launch, festival-sponsor Theakstons Old Peculier has teamed up with six of the UK’s leading crime writers to create a series of limited edition labels on bottles of their famous ale. The authors – Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Stuart MacBride, Simon Kernick, NJ Cooper and Simon Beckett – were tasked with writing a brand new crime story for the back of the beer bottle. The twist? They could only use ten words.

Stuart MacBride said: “Write a whole story in ten words? Piece of cake. Or at least that’s what I thought. Turned out to be true too – writing a story in ten words is easy, it’s writing a good one that’s difficult. But with any luck I hope people will pause for a moment in the midst of savouring their drink to take a squint at the wee stories and maybe decide to try a crime novel they wouldn’t have before. Beer and a good book, what could be better?”

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston explained the partnership: “We are immensely proud of our association with Harrogate’s world-class crime fiction festival and the new labels featuring these ten word stories by the cream of UK crime writers are a further demonstration of the innovative nature and ongoing success of our partnership. I hope fans of Old Peculier and fans of crime fiction alike will enjoy collecting the six stories and reading them while appreciating a bottle of fine ale!”