Novelist Ruth Ware has been named as festival programming chair for next year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.
The festival, organised by the charity Harrogate International Festivals, is hailed as the world’s largest and most prestigious celebration of crime fiction.
Held next year from July 18 to 21 at the Old Swan, the festival regularly attracts some of the world’s most popular crime and thriller writers to Harrogate.
Ms Ware, whose books have sold six million copies, follows in the footsteps of the likes of Ian Rankin, Elly Griffiths, Denise Mina, Lee Child, Val McDermid and Vaseem Khan.
Her 2015 debut thriller In a Dark, Dark Wood, about a bachelorette party gone disastrously wrong, was a Richard and Judy Choice, and a Sunday Times and New York Times top ten bestseller.
Since then, her novels have appeared on bestseller lists and been optioned for both film and TV, including her latest thriller Zero Days which was selected by Universal International Studios.
Ms Ware, who lives near Brighton, said:
“When I first began writing, one of my most cherished dreams was a panel at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.
“To be invited to chair the festival is truly an honour I could never have imagined – and it’s been my privilege and delight to work alongside the phenomenal programming committee to create a programme that showcases the strength, diversity and sheer literary inventiveness of our brilliant and bloody craft.
“From writers I’ve admired for years to newcomers I’ve been thrilled to discover – I can’t wait to share it with you all.”
Simon Theakston, of Masham brewery T&R Theakston Ltd, which has been the festival title sponsor since 2005, added:
“I’m delighted that such a talented writer as Ruth Ware is taking on the role of festival programming chair.”
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