The 6th May 2017 a date when Clapham explored its inner criminal, its hidden historian and secret spy.
The 2017 Programme included something for everyone, from crime and thrillers, Death in the Afternoon, historical novels and history books, The Past is Another Country to spy fiction Spies Under the Bed. Lots of local authors attended the Meet ‘n Greet in the Bar of Omnibus in the early evening and a very successful day was rounded off by national and international award-winning broadcaster, Kate Adie.
Death in the Afternoon
How do you like your crime? Domestic? Noir? Tough or cosy? Bloody? Clapham Writers’ three top crime and thriller writers discussed their work and their approach to a perennially fascinating subject.
- Sabine Durrant‘s latest Lie with Me is a Richard & Judy pick
- J P Delaney‘s The Girl Before has been optioned for a major film
- Annemarie Neary‘s Siren was praised as a ‘brave and searing’ debut
- Chaired by Natasha Cooper, crime writer and former chair of the Crime Writers’ Association
The Past is Another Country
Whether fiction or non-fiction, history is enjoying a boom in books. Three hugely successful writers discussed their attitude to fact, to fiction and the part imagination plays in reconstructing the past.
- Local author, Bafta-winning documentary maker and WWII specialist Simon Berthon ( the Telegraph dubbed him a ‘formidable Second World War historian’)
- Tudor novelist Elizabeth Fremantle‘s Girl in the Glass Tower is a Times book of the year
- Robin Blake‘s Cragg & Fidelis series is a brilliant recreation of eighteenth century life and death
- Chaired by local author and historical novelist Julie Anderson
Spies Under the Bed
My country right or wrong, it’s said… but did Mata Hari or Guy Burgess really think that? From ancient Rome to today’s HUMINT by drone, it’s always been a thrilling and deadly business.
- Andrew Lownie prize-winning biographer of Guy Burgess, Stalin’s Englishman
- Writer and TV director Rick Stroud‘s Lonely Courage tells the gripping story of SOE heroines
- Author and journalist, Jane Thynne‘s best selling Clara Vine novels are set in Nazi Germany
- Chaired by local author and novelist Elizabeth Buchan
Kate Adie In Conversation with Simon Berthon
A sparkling performance by BBC journalist Kate Adie talking to Bafta-winning documentary maker Simon Berthon. Kate, a familiar figure through her work as BBC Chief News Correspondent, is considered to be among the most reliable reporters, as well as one of the first British women, sending despatches from danger zones around the world. Kate is the long-serving presenter of Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent and a presenter or contributor to many other radio and television programmes.
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