St Hilda’s College Writers’ Day 2019 marks its 10th year as the only College to hold its own day of lectures at the Oxford Literary Festival. All authors are College members or alumnae.
CLAIRE HARMAN – Murder By The Book: A Sensational Chapter In Victorian Crime
When the accused murderer of Lord William Russell blamed the crime on his reading, he fueled an ongoing debate about the appalling damage ‘low’ books could do. This fascinating study details the controversy around William Harrison Ainsworth’s Jack Sheppard, the murder of Russell and the way it affected many of the leading writers of the day, including Dickens and Thackeray. Harman unpacks the evidence, reveals the gossip and the surprisingly literary background to this gory crime.
12pm, Worcester College Lecture Theatre
Chair: Claire Armitstead (The Guardian and the Observer)
VAL MCDERMID – A Life Of Crime
Dubbed the Queen of Crime, Val McDermid has sold over 15 million books to date across the globe and is translated into over 40 languages. She is perhaps best known for her ‘Wire in the Blood’ series, featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan, which was adapted for television starring Robson Green. She has written three other series: private detective Kate Brannigan, journalist Lindsay Gordon and, most recently, cold case detective Karen Pirie. She has also published in several award-winning standalone novels, two books of non-fiction, two short story collections and a children’s picture book, ‘My Granny is a Pirate’.
2pm, Sheldonian Theatre
Chair: Nicolette Jones (The Sunday Times)
KIRSTY GUNN – Action Writing
Kirsty Gunn is an internationally awarded writer who published her first novel with Faber in 1994 and since then eight works of fiction, including short stories, as well as a collection of fragments and meditations, and essays. Her latest novel is the acclaimed ‘Caroline’s Bikini’. She is Professor of Writing Practice and Study at the University of Dundee and lives in London and Scotland with her husband and two daughters.
4pm, Worcester College Lecture Theatre
Chair: Claire Armitstead (The Guardian and the Observer)
TESS STIMSON – From Adultery to Murder: A Shorter Journey Than You Think
Tess Stimson is the British author of ten novels, including top-ten bestseller ‘The Adultery Club’. After graduating from St Hilda’s College, Oxford she went to ITN where she reported and produced regional and world stories, travelling to hotspots and war-zones all over the globe. In 2002, she was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at the University of South Florida and moved to the US. She now lives and works in Vermont and is transitioning into writing psychological suspense fiction, writing as TJ Stimson. Her first novel in this genre, ‘Picture of Innocence’, is to be published by Avon in Spring 2019.
6pm, Worcester College Lecture Theatre
Chair: Nicolette Jones (The Sunday Times)
