Crime Fiction Takes Centre Stage In Wales

With perfect timing for St David’s Day and the start of Wales Reading Month, crime authors in Wales have just announced plans for the first international crime fiction festival to be staged in Wales.

Logo of the first crime fiction festival to be held in Wales

Gŵyl CRIME CYMRU Festival will take place in the historical town of Aberystwyth in 2022 with a stellar line up of local and international authors including Mark Billingham, Anne Cleeves, Peter James, and MW Craven.

But for crime fiction fans who can’t wait that long, there’s a virtual event scheduled for this year. Between April 26 and May 3, Virtual CRIME CYMRU Digidol will welcome big hitting names such as Lee Child, and his brother Andrew Child; Abir Mukherjee, author of the award-winning British Raj-era historical novels featuring Wyndham and Banerjee, and the hugely popular Elly Griffiths, author of the Ruth Galloway series of mysteries.  All the sessions will be completely free to participants.

The festivals are the result of an initiative by Crime Cymru, a collective formed in 2017 to promote Welsh crime fiction and challenge the misconceived idea that  ‘nobody who wants to be read sets their books in Wales’. 

It’s fabulous to see how far this group has come in just a few years. Two years ago, when I interviewed Alys Hawkins, one of the founding members, she described the plan to fight for recognition by going direct to readers at literary festivals across the border. Now they’re ready to go one stage further in putting fiction from Wales on the literary map.

Crime Cymru members believe that Wales has something unique to offer the world of crime fiction and is determined to change perceptions with the new international crime festival.

Why a Wales-based event? Why now?

One big factor is the response to Wales-based TV series such as Matthew Hall’s Keeping Faith and the crime dramas Hinterland and Hidden. Their international success has turned the spotlight on local authors. Another key factor is the high popularity of regional based events such as  Bloody Scotland, Newcastle’s Noir festival and more recently Bristol’s Crimefest.

The fact that so many big-ticket authors have already signed up to participate is a sign that there’s enough interest in Wales to sustain a festival.

For full details of the programme and a chance to register for updates, check out the festival website.

BookerTalk

What do you need to know about me? 1. I'm from Wales which is one of the countries in the UK and must never be confused with England. 2. My life has always revolved around the written and spoken word. I worked as a journalist for nine years then in international corporate communications 3. My tastes in books are eclectic. I love realism and hate science fiction and science fantasy. 4. I am trying to broaden my reading horizons geographically by reading more books in translation

9 thoughts on “Crime Fiction Takes Centre Stage In Wales

  • March 5, 2021 at 1:32 pm
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    A great idea. I am a big fan of Ann Cleeves’ books and have read one by Billingham. Just went to check and I own another by Billingham called Rush of Blood. However, it is set in Florida of all places. Is he Welsh or just willing to come to the festival? I hope the organizers will invite Harry Bingham as his books set in Cardiff are extremely good.

    I am not in the mood for a historical mystery but you have made me want to find a new crime author.

    Reply
    • March 5, 2021 at 9:19 pm
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      Billingham isn’t Welsh sadly but the guests are not all from Wales. I don’t know Harry Bingham, must look him up to see how he depicts Cardiff since I know it very well (just 30 minutes drive from my home)

      Reply
  • March 3, 2021 at 4:45 pm
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    Very true, Aberystwyth isn’t too far away. If I am still living here in 2022, I may well attend the event.

    Reply
    • March 3, 2021 at 5:56 pm
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      I take it you’re thinking of moving home. Somewhere less prone to winds I hope

      Reply
      • March 3, 2021 at 10:35 pm
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        Well, we’re living in our lodge on a temporary basis, while we look for a house. We’re not in any hurry to move but we definitely want to live on the coast.

        Reply
  • March 2, 2021 at 7:02 pm
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    As a member of Crime Cymru, Karen, many thanks for this informative post.

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    • March 2, 2021 at 9:26 pm
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      I’m very impressed by the line up you’ve managed to secure Judith. Sounds like a wonderful event

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    • March 2, 2021 at 9:26 pm
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      I’m going to guess that you’ll be aiming to get to the 2022 event given it is fairly close to your home.

      Reply

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