Lee Child. Photo Credit Sam Atkins
A big congratulations to Lee Child, who beat off competition to take home the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award on the opening night of the Festival. One of the most prestigious prizes in crime fiction, Child won for his Jack Reacher thriller 61 Hours.
The Coventry-born, Birmingham-raised Child – real name Jim Grant – is one of the UK’s bestselling authors. He has sold over 50 million books worldwide, and been translated into 40 languages. Despite a Reacher novel being sold somewhere in the world every few seconds, this is Child’s first win.
Child beat off stiff competition from Mark Billingham hoping to make this year his hat-trick win, as well as last year’s Festival Chair, Stuart MacBride. It wasn’t to be Irish debut novelist William Ryan’s year either, and despite critical acclaim for The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor and Blood Harvest by SJ Bolton, Child emerged as a clear favourite.
Now in its seventh year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, in partnership with Asda, and this year in association with the Daily Mirror, was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback between 1st January 2010 and 31st May 2011.
Child was presented the £3000 prize by radio broadcaster and festival regular Mark Lawson on the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate (Thursday 21st July). He also collected a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons Old Peculier.
2011 shortlist in full
From The Dead – Mark Billingham
Blood Harvest – SJ Bolton
61 Hours – Lee Child
Dark Blood – Stuart MacBride
The Holy Thief – William Ryan
The Anatomy of Ghosts – Andrew Taylor
P.D. James. Photo Credit Bryony Davies.
A special presentation was also made to PD James, the winner of the second Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. At 91, she was delighted to collect the award: “It is always a satisfaction and an encouragement for a writer to win a prize, but I am particularly proud to be honoured by the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award because it comes from Harrogate, a town which it is always a delight to visit and which is the home of one of the most distinguished and pleasurable English literary festivals.”
Born in Oxford in 1920, Baroness James of Holland Park began writing in the 1950s. Her debut novel, Cover Her Face, was published in 1962 featuring her now famous investigator, Adam Dalgliesh. Many of her books have been adapted for film and television, including her 1992 novel Children of Men, which in 2006 was adapted for Hollywood, starring Clive Owen and directed by Alfonso Cuarón.
Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston, and one of five judges on this year’s panel, said: “All the novels on this year’s shortlist were of an exceptionally high standard but 61 Hours was a clear winner. The appeal of the eternal wanderer Jack Reacher is hard to resist as he travels the frozen landscape of South Dakota, fighting the good fight. 61 Hours is a great example of Lee Child’s immense talent, and we’re thrilled to present him with this much deserved award for the first time.”
“We are also hugely honoured and excited to welcome the crime fiction grandmaster P.D. James to Harrogate this year, to collect her Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. Few are as prolific as she, dominating the genre for over 50 years. This award acknowledges that immense achievement.”
OLD BLOOD VERSUS NEW BLOOD:
2011 THEAKSTONS OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR LONGLIST REVEALED
A mix of writers old and new will do battle in this year’s Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, one of the most prestigious crime writing prizes in the country. The multi-nominated Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Reginald Hill and Lee Child will go head to head with some of the genre’s newest stars including Rosamund Lupton whose debut novel Sister was the fastest selling debut of 2010; Simon Lelic who published his debut Rupture to much critical acclaim; and former journalist and screenwriter Belinda Bauer, whose debut novel Blacklands led her to be hailed as the woman most likely to lead the fight back against the Scandinavian crime-wave.
A third of this year’s longlist is made up of women, continuing a trend from last year, as female authors even the gender balance in a traditionally male-dominated genre. As well as McDermid, Lupton and Bauer, the list also includes Laura Wilson, nominated for A Capital Crime, SJ Bolton for Blood Harvest and Sophie Hannah (A Room Swept White) whose poetry is studied by English students across the country.
Now in its seventh year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing, and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1st January 2010 to 31st May 2011.
A major accolade in the crime writing field, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is unique in that it is the only one of its kind which is largely voted for by the general public. As of today (Friday 13th May), the public will have until Sunday 5th June to vote for their favourite title at www.theakstons.co.uk, and the result of this vote will determine the six titles that make it onto the shortlist.
The longlist in full:
- Blacklands, by Belinda Bauer (Corgi)
- From the Dead, by Mark Billingham (Sphere)
- Blood Harvest, by S J Bolton (Corgi Books)
- 61 Hours, by Lee Child (Bantam Books)
- Winterland, by Alan Glynn (Faber)
- A Room Swept White, by Sophie Hannah (Hodder)
- The Woodcutter, by Reginald Hill (Harper Fiction)
- Rupture, by Simon Lelic (Picador)
- Sister, by Rosamund Lupton (Piatkus)
- Dark Blood, by Stuart MacBride (Harper Fiction)
- Fever of the Bone, by Val McDermid (Sphere)
- Fifty Grand, by Adrian McKinty (Serpent’s Tail)
- Still Bleeding, Steve Mosby (Orion)
- The Twelve, by Stuart Neville (Vintage)
- Random, by Craig Robertson (Simon & Schuster)
- The Holy Thief, by William Ryan (Pan Books)
- The Anatomy of Ghosts, by Andrew Taylor (Michael Joseph)
· A Capital Crime, by Laura Wilson, (Quercus)
The shortlist will be announced on 27th June, and the eventual winner will be decided by a panel of judges including this year’s Festival chair Dreda Say Mitchell, the journalist and novelist Henry Sutton, the winner of a Daily Mirror reader competition / a member of the public and Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston Ltd.
The longlisted and shortlisted titles will feature in a nationwide library campaign encouraging readers to vote, and will be promoted in 252 Asda stores across the country.
The winner of the prize will be announced by radio broadcaster and festival regular Mark Lawson on the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on Thursday 21st July. The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons Old Peculier.
Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston, said:
“I’m delighted to see such a wide range of authors on this year’s longlist. It’s particularly exciting to see many new names emerging who will hopefully continue to fly the flag for British and Irish crime writing for many years to come.”
