Tickets now on sale for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award presentation

Tickets are now on sale for "Setting the Stage for Murder", a great event in Christchurch on 21 August that incorporates the presentation of the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

The event is being held at 11am at the TelstraClear Club in Hagley Park, in association with the Christchurch Writers Festival Trust, and as part of the 2011 Christchurch Arts Festival (which runs from 12 August to 2 October).

It's terrific to have both organisations (the Arts Festival and the Writers' Festival) behind the Ngaio Marsh Award. Here's the spiel for the event from the Arts Festival website:

SETIING THE STAGE FOR MURDER

The International Stage

Two of America’s top crime writers join forces in a gripping session. Best-selling author Tess Gerritsen and award-winner John Hart, author of three New York Times bestsellers, will discuss their latest novels — The Silent Girl and The Iron House respectively. Chaired by crime afcionado and reviewer Graham Beattie, this riveting event will have you on the edge of your seat.

The New Zealand Stage
Christchurch s again proud to host the prestigious Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. A panel of local and international judges has been considering the best locally written crime and thriller fction published in New Zealand in 2010. The three fnalists will discuss their books with Craig Sisterson, one of the country’s most knowledgeable crime readers, before the winner is announced.
Presented by Christchurch Writers Festival.

It should be a terrific way to spend a late winter Sunday. Hopefully we will see some of you there. You can purchase tickets through the Arts Festival website here.

Literary Events To Reinvigorate The 'Quake-ravaged Christchurch Audience

Following the cancellation of two proposed festivals, The Press Christchurch Writers’ Festival is determined that local audiences won’t miss out on hearing the words of some of our best writers - just because the earthquakes ravaged the city.

In July, August and September the festival is bringing some entertaining, challenging and thrilling literary events to Christchurch.

Read Aloud: Tuesday 26 July. As part of Kidsfest the festival presents Margaret Mahy, Ben Brown, Helen Taylor and James Norcliffe telling their tales from their own stories in the Events Dome in Hagley Park.

The Silence Beyond: Wednesday 27 July. Rachael King and Lloyd Jones in conversation about The Silence Beyond: Selected Writings of Michael King. In this new book, Rachael has assembled a collection of her father’s wide-ranging, often personal and some previously unpublished essays, talks and eulogies highlighting the full scope of talents of one of New Zealand’s greatest modern thinkers.

The Larnachs. Sunday 7 August. Owen Marshall talks to broadcaster Ruth Todd, about his subtle and compelling new novel, The Larnachs, which draws on the family history of James Ludie Lanarch - the politician and self-made man who built the famous 'castle' on the Otago peninsula. A memorable piece of fiction, from one of our most talented authors, it tells a tale of intrigue, morality, judgement and scandal.

Setting the Stage for Murder: Sunday 21 August. Two award-winning American crime writers, Tess Gerritsen and John Hart discuss their latest novels in a riveting session. This will be followed by the presentation of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel by a New Zealand writer in 2010, with the finalists all reading excerpts from their thrilling tales.

Presented as part of Christchurch Arts Festival

Putting Words to the Feelings: Sunday 18 September. Five writers with strong Canterbury links – Fiona Farrell, Joanna Preston, Tusiata Avia, Carl Nixon and Charlotte Randall – reflect on their experiences of the Christchurch earthquake and how the reimagined landscape of the city and its surroundings will emerge within their writing.

Presented as part of Christchurch Arts Festival

What’s For Pudding? Wednesday 31 August. Alexa Johnston talks to Kate Fraser, food editor of The Press, about her new collection of old tried and true recipes, the best selection of sweet treats that have graced New Zealand tables for generations. Following on from the success of Alexa Johnston’s best-selling “Ladies a Plate”, the choice of hot and cold puddings reflect the changing social habits in a century of cooking in New Zealand.

Read Aloud – Tuesday 26 July, 930am and 11.00am Child $5, Family $10 – door sales only

The Silence Beyond – Wednesday 27 July, 6.30pm -Cashmere Club - $15 http://www.dashtickets.co.nz/

The Larnachs – Sunday 7 August, 1.00pm - Cashmere Club - $15 http://www.dashtickets.co.nz/

Setting the Stage for Murder – Sunday 21 August, 11.00am - TelstraClear Club, Hagley Park $20 – http://www.artsfestival.co.nz/

Putting Words to the Feelings – Sunday 18 September, 1.00pm - TelstraClear Club, Hagley Park - $5 – http://www.artsfestival.co.nz/

What’s for Pudding? – Wednesday 31 August, 2.30pm The George Hotel - $25 http://www.dashtickets.co.nz/

Hope to see some of Crime Watch's New Zealand-based readers at the Setting the Stage for Murder event!

Good News: The Press Christchurch Writers Festival to stage mini-festival in May 2011!

As many of you will be aware, this year's The Press Christchurch Writers Festival, which was shaping up to be a truly terrific event packed with lots of great authors and sessions - including several crime fiction-related ones, and the scheduled presentation of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel - had to be cancelled due to the Canterbury earthquake.

Usually the festival is run every two years. However, The Press Christchurch Writers Festival has now announced that it will stage a mini-festival from 6-8 May 2011 as a way of saying thank you to its loyal supporters. This is terrific news. Hopefully there will be a few crime fiction sessions in amongst the mini-festival line-up (three days instead of the usual four days).

"We are aware that while our audience understood our decision to cancel, there was also some disappointment that the event could not go ahead,'' says festival manager Marianne Hargreaves. "It was a very hard decision to make. So we're pleased to be able to announce new dates for 2011. We also expect to put on some of the sessions that had strong audience support in 2010.''

The 2011 mini-festival will be held at the Christchurch Art Gallery auditorium from May 6 to May 8. Some of the sessions expected to return from the 2010 programme include ‘Ladies a Plate’, ‘Your Skirt’s Too Short’ and ‘Speed Dating an Author’. There will also be new international guests, in association with the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, who generously offered to help the Christchurch festival in the aftermath of the September earthquake, Hargreaves said. Popular events from the past, such as the schools programme and ‘Poetry for Lunch’, will also return.

From my perspective, I'm hoping that a couple/few crime fiction authors - both international and New Zealand - will be part of the new line-up. Perhaps the Auckland Festival, unlike recent years, may even take the opportunity to host an international crime fiction author or two in 2011 as well. That would certainly be fantastic.

What sort of events would you most like to see at the Christchurch Writers Festival in 2011?

Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, revealed*

*No, I'm not revealing who has won the 2010 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel today, but I am revealing for the first time what the trophy the winner will receive looks like!

As I've noted previously on this blog, this year will mark the first time (as far as I am aware) that an award for New Zealand crime fiction has ever been made. While the Canterbury Earthquake led to the unfortunate cancellation of the 2010 The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival, where the inaugural award was due to be made, the presentation of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel (pictured above) has merely been postponed, and a replacement event will occur sometime in the coming weeks (likely in November). I will let you know the details of the eventual event, once things have been confirmed.

So at least all of you who are reading the three finalists now have a little more time to formulate your own opinion, before the official announcement. And booksellers have more time to promote all three finalists prior to the winner being announced. If any of you need any help sourcing copies of the three finalists, or other New Zealand crime fiction, please feel free to get in touch with me and I'll do my best to help.

Turning now to the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel trophy itself; there's a bit of a story behind the design of the trophy (pictured above). We were wanting to create something that was a little different and unique, that fit the kind of slightly irreverant and low-key style of many of the other crime fiction awards around the world (eg the Edgar, the Agatha, the Macavity, the Ned Kelly, the Arthur Ellis, the Theakston, the Dagger, etc - click on any of the award names to see an image of that award) while still looking good, and was also imbued with some ideas tied to Ngaio Marsh, books, crime writing, and New Zealand. Personally I think the above award does all this.

The award has been handcrafted by Auckland sculptor and visual arts and design lecturer Gina Ferguson, and mounted by Xpress Awards. As is often the case with such creative things, what we have ended up with is quite different from the earliest discussions and ideas between an informal 'design team', which also included myself and Dr Joanne Drayton (Ngaio Marsh expert and acclaimed biographer, and a lecturer at Unitec Design School), as ideas spiralled off ideas, and the team ended up coming up with something quite unique and, I think, exciting and elegant.

In short the award looks like an old-fashioned hardcover book, opened slightly (we realised few of the awards, although they were for books, actually had books incorporated into the trophy), with a stylised etching of Dame Ngaio on the cover. The 'book' is 'flocked', which is a technique that makes it look like it has a velvety black cover, which can shimmer a bit in the light, and the stylised etching is in mother of pearl, which gives a nice simple and elegant black/white contrast, while also tying to the pearl necklaces Dame Ngaio was sometimes photographed wearing. The velvet-ish flocking kind of echoes the Golden Age, while also tying to Dame Ngaio's theatrical leanings. The stylished etching of Dame Ngaio was based on a combination of various photos - working in elements of necklace, artist's beret, wavy hair etc - while looking simple, almost like a pencil or charcoal artist's sketch (again tying to Ngaio's artistic side as well).

I understand that people have different aesthetic tastes, but having seen the Award in person, personally I think it looks quite cool, and over the years it will hopefully grow into something much-desired by crime writers down this end of the world.

What do you think?

Christchurch Writers' Festival cancelled!

Further to my post yesterday about the threat to the 2010 The Press Christchurch Writer's Festival following the property and infrastructure devastation visited on Christchurch by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, I am sorry to say that this morning the Festival has been officially cancelled.

Initially there was some hope that it could still go ahead, but following the severe aftershocks overnight (there have been more than 100 aftershocks in total, with several in the range of 5+ on the Richter scale), combined with all the other factors and considerations, the Board of the Festival has made what must have been a very tough decision.

My thoughts go out to all of those involved who have put so much work into the planning and preparation for what would no doubt have been a truly outstanding event.

From a crime fiction perspective, this of course means that the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will not be presented on Friday as scheduled. However, watch this space, and hopefully I will have some news for you in the coming days about what we will now do re: the presentation of the Award. Hopefully we can do something that can benefit Christchurch and its residents.

Also, keep checking in at Crime Watch for news about some other alternative events that may be popping up, with funds raised going to the Christchurch Earthquake relief. At least one of the international authors who was going to attend the Festival will now be appearing at a replacement event in another New Zealand city this week - more to come on that this afternoon.

Christchurch Writers' Festival: watch this space

As many of you will no doubt have heard, a massive earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand's second most populated city, in the early hours of Saturday morning. Fortunately, due to the timing of the quake (which I understand was a touch stronger and shallower - ie more dangerous - than the Haiti quake earlier this year that killed 230,000 people), the earthquake strengthening and building standards in force in New Zealand, the speed of response of our emergency services and Civil Defence, and the general actions of many everyday Cantabrians, the (in places severe) damage was largely confined to property and infrastruture, rather than human casualties. We got very, very lucky.

Thank you for the messages of concern from overseas. I now live in Auckland, so was well away from the earthquake, but I went to University in Christchurch, so have many friends there. Fortunately all are safe and well, although several have damaged houses.

Some of you are also no doubt wondering what this means for The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival, which was scheduled to be held in the Christchurch CBD (one of the worst-affected areas) from Thursday to Sunday this week. As I've said previously, the biennial Festival had a truly terrific programme this year, with more than 80 writers of all types featuring in more than 50 great events over the four days. In terms of crime fiction, there was to be plenty on the plate, including of course the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

Right now, I'm not sure of the Festival's status. I understand that at least one of the venues (the Repertory Theatre, pictured above - photo by Iain McGregor of The Press) has been badly damaged and will be unusable. I understand the Board of the Festival are meeting soon to determine what decisions should be made with regards to the planned events. I will let you know as soon as I know anything more.

You can see more pictures of the effects of the earthquake here, and there are also places to donate online to the Christchurch earthquake recovery - the NZ Herald has listed various ways to donate to legitimate relief organisations here.

Ngaio Marsh Award: watch this space!

Just a heads-up that I will soon be revealing some further exciting news about the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, in terms of the prize that the winner, to be announced next Friday night at the 2010 The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival, will receive.

Things have been happening in the background, and there should be an official announcement very soon, hopefully tomorrow.

It's exciting times down here in New Zealand for crime and thriller writing. I understand that debutant Ben Sanders (THE FALLEN) may have held his spot at #1 on the New Zealand Adult Fiction bestseller list for the fourth week running, and that his novel may be heading for a reprint already, which is quite rare down here in New Zealand.

Paul Thomas's THE IHAKA TRILOGY (a collection of his three acclaimed crime novels from the late 1990s) has also remained in the top 5 bestsellers. So that's great, that Kiwi readers are giving some locally-written crime a go. Hopefully it bodes very well for our growing canon of good and great crime writers overall....

Also on the horizon, as well as the presentation of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel (for books published in 2009), is the release of another Kiwi crime debutant - Donna Malane's NZSA Pindar Publishing Prize-winning novel, SURRENDER. I'm very much looking forward to reading that, soon.

So, things are very much on the up and up, crime writing wise. Long may it continue!

Thoughts and comments welcome.

Win one of 40 double-passed to an exclusive pre-party and Setting the Stage for Murder

Those who subscribe to The Press, the major sponsor of the upcoming 2010 The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival, , now have a fantastic opportunity to win one of 40 double-passes to an exclusive pre-function with Andrew Holden, editor of The Press, and the Christchurch Book Festival Trust. Winners will also receive tickets to the marquee Setting the Stage for Murder event on Friday 10 September 2010.

As many readers will be aware, Setting the Stage for Murder is the Festival event where the presentation of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will take place.

If you subscribe to The Press (the major newspaper in the South Island of New Zealand), you can go into the draw for one of the 40 double passes by either:

• TEXT the winning code to 3444. Texts cost 20c. One entry per mobile phone.
• POST the winning code with your name and contact details to Setting the Stage, The Press, Response Bag 500054, Christchurch 8140.
• EMAIL the winning code and contact details to win@press.co.nz

The WINNING CODE is CRIME

Competition closes Tuesday August 31. For full terms and conditions visit www.press.co.nz

Dream debut continues for #1 bestseller Ben Sanders

What a month it's been for young North Shore crime writer Ben Sanders.

Over the past few weeks he and his debut novel, THE FALLEN, have been featured by several of New Zealand's biggest media players (eg the Weekend Herald, the Sunday Star-Times, TVNZ), and mentioned in several others as well, and now for the third week in a row THE FALLEN sits atop the New Zealand Adult Fiction bestseller list!

You can watch a short 5mins long clip of Ben Sanders being interviewed by Paul Henry and Pippa Wetzell on Breakfast, the popular TVNZ morning show here. For those of you outside of Australia and New Zealand, I understand a Kindle edition of THE FALLEN is due to be released on Amazon.com in September.

Paul Thomas's IHAKA TRILOGY (Old School Tie, Inside Dope and Guerilla Season) also holds its place at #3 in its third week on the charts. With Alix Bosco's SLAUGHTER FALLS also out now, Donna Malane's SURRENDER coming out in September, and the publicity being generated about New Zealand crime fiction in the lead-up to the presentation of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, at The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival, in just two weeks' time, hopefully Kiwi readers will continue to give our locally-written crime novels a go.

Have you read THE FALLEN? Are you intending to? Do you think it's a contender for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award? What other great Kiwi crime have you read this year? What are your thoughts on the increasing publicity and prominence (relatively speaking) of Kiwi crime fiction lately? Long overdue? A cause for optimism? A false dawn? Thoughts and comments welcome.

My reviews of BLEED FOR ME and THE LAST 10 SECONDS in today's NZLawyer magazine

Today I had an article in the new print issue of NZLawyer magazine (issue 143, 20 August 2010) that includes reviews of the latest books by Michael Robotham and Simon Kernick, two international crime and thriller writers that will be appearing at the upcoming The Press Christchurch Writers Festival in September.

With the editor's permission, I am sharing my reviews here with you all (since unless you are a Kiwi lawyer, judge or politician, you're unlikely to have access to the print version of NZLawyer magazine - and the reviews aren't placed online).

International thrills in the Garden City
Craig Sisterson takes a look at the latest books from two of the international stars appearing at the upcoming The Press Christchurch Writers’ Festival

In less than a month, dozens of writers of all types, from around New Zealand and various places abroad, will descend on the Garden City for the biennial literary feast that is The Press Christchurch Writers’ Festival. Around 80 writers from near and far, acclaimed and award-winning, budding to best-selling, from poets to sports writers, historians to crime writers, children’s authors to songwriters to biographers to travel writers and more, will converge on the Christchurch Town Hall and other venues around the city for a schedule packed with almost 50 events over four fantastic days.

Long-standing doyens of the local literary scene Ruth Todd and Morrin Rout have ensured once again that anyone who loves words will be able to find something fascinating at the Festival. For those wanting a bit of international flavour to supplement the excellent locals on show, there is plenty to choose from, including the likes of British “mistress of sparkling dark comedy” Barbara Trapido (Brother of the More Famous Jack, Sex and Stravinsky), narrative non-fiction bestseller Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman, Atlantic: A Biography), and cult “class politics” columnist and author Joe Baegeant (Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir).

Amongst other events, award-winning Australian crime writer Michael Robotham (Shatter, The Night Ferry) and exciting British thriller star Simon Kernick (Relentless, Target) will share the stage, alongside locals Neil Cross and Vanda Symon, at “Setting the Stage for Murder”, the Festival’s marquee Friday evening event where the inaugural winner of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, recognising the best in Kiwi crime writing, will also be revealed. So in this issue, we take a closer look at the latest releases from Robotham and Kernick.

Bleed for Me
By Michael Robotham (Sphere, 2010)
In his sixth crime thriller, journalist turned celebrity ‘autobiography’ ghostwriter turned crime writer Robotham brings back his Parkinson’s-afflicted protagonist, psychologist Joe O’Loughlin, who starred in three of the Australian’s first five novels (two of which won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Australian Crime Novel). Although Robotham was born and raised in the ‘Lucky Country’, and resides there once more, he sets his dark thrillers back in the UK, where he worked for many years.

Struggling with the break-up of his marriage, O’Loughlin finds himself on a perilous journey trying to help his teenage daughter’s best friend Sienna Hegarty, after she turns up late one night, frozen in shock and covered in blood – the blood of her authoritarian father, a retired policeman, who is found in Sienna’s room with his throat slashed and skull caved in. The 14 year old can’t remember what happened, but doesn’t seem that upset at her father’s brutal death. What begins for O’Loughlin as a court-ordered psychological report on a clearly troubled girl, quickly shifts into an unofficial (and by many people, unwanted) investigation into the Hegarty household, the local school, charismatic teacher Gordon Ellis, and several people’s pasts.

Robotham pens an absorbing, top-quality tale that has a nice balance of characters, plot (including several subplots), dialogue, and setting, while also weaving some intriguing themes throughout the narrative. O’Loughlin is a fascinating protagonist, not your typical crime fiction hero by any stretch. The aging and ailing psychologist is dealing with plenty of issues at work and home, and makes a fair few missteps despite his best intentions. There are a couple of moments that may be a touch much for some (particularly animal lovers), but for me these were gory without being gratuitous, threaded organically into a compelling tale that raises questions and touches on several diverse issues and themes; from fatherhood and family life, to dealing with life’s changes, to notions of crime and justice. It’s easy to see why Robotham is racking up awards and acclaim.

The Last 10 Seconds
By Simon Kernick (Bantam Press, 2010)
While Robotham sucks the reader into his excellent story with something of a slow burn, Simon Kernick, whose earlier novel Relentless was the best-selling thriller in the UK in 2007, is more of the ‘smack you in the face, grab you by the throat, and not let go ’til the end’ type of author. The Last 10 Seconds is a fast and riveting read, centred on undercover cop Sean Egan, a brutally violent serial killer called the Night Creeper, and troubled DI Tina Boyd of Camden’s Murder Investigation Team.

Egan has infiltrated one of London’s most dangerous criminal gangs, cosying up to the very men who gunned his injured brother down years ago – and now must prove himself to the vicious gangsters by taking part in the daring abduction from police custody of Andrew Kent, a man suspected of being the Night Creeper. Suspected of torturing five women to death, Kent claims he has an alibi for one of the murders, and some highly important information that someone may be willing to kill for. When Kent is kidnapped from right under Boyd’s nose, she finds herself in a helter-skelter chase to save a serial killer who may have information about someone even worse.

Kernick sets the unlikely trio on a path to life-and-death collision, and the result is an exciting page-turner that whizzes along at breakneck pace, while still giving readers some insight into the main characters. Despite the rip-roaring plot and action, Kernick also layers in some nice touches in terms of character and setting. The Last 10 Seconds is one of those books that will quickly hook fans of the genre, and be pretty tough to put down. A one-sitting book, or a ‘have to get back to ASAP’ one, depending on your other commitments (or despite them), it’s easy to see why Kernick has quickly garnered quite the reputation in the UK. A fast, fun read – I’ll certainly read more of his work.

You can check out when Robotham and Kernick are appearing, and all the other great events at the upcoming The Press Christchurch Writers’ Festival here: http://www.chchwritersfest.co.nz/.

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So, what do you think of my reviews? Have you read BLEED FOR ME or THE LAST 10 SECONDS, or other Robotham or Kernick novels? Are you heading to the Christchurch Writers' Festival in September? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Finalists for inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel announced today

THE THREE finalists for the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, which will be presented at a ceremony at the upcoming The Press Christchurch Writers’ Festival in September, have now been confirmed. The award is made for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident, published in New Zealand during 2009.

A panel of seven local and international judges has been considering the best of locally written crime and thriller fiction published last year.

The three finalists are:

• CUT & RUN by Alix Bosco (Penguin);
• BURIAL by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster); and
• CONTAINMENT by Vanda Symon (Penguin)

The winner of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will be announced at a ceremony at the conclusion of the “Setting the Stage for Murder” event at the Festival on the evening of Friday 10 September 2010.

The international judges said CUT & RUN was “complex and suspenseful” and had “scenes and incidents which are jaw-droppingly good”, that BURIAL “maintained the tension and the atmosphere from beginning to end, keeping the atmosphere creepy”, and that CONTAINMENT had “an attractive series heroine (feisty but vulnerable)” while starting with a “superb” opening scene that by itself would make the judge “want to read more Vanda Symon”.

“There were a number of high-quality crime novels published last year, and it has been a tough decision for the judges,” said Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “It is fantastic to see crime writing of this quality being produced by New Zealand writers, and great that the Award recognises both the best of our current authors, while also honouring the memory of one of our country’s true literary legends, who we have perhaps underappreciated in the past.”

The Awards namesake, Dame Ngaio Marsh, is renowned worldwide as one of the four “Queens of Crime” of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, having published 32 novels featuring Inspector Roderick Alleyn between 1934 and her death in 1982. With sales in the millions, and her books still in print to this day, Dame Ngaio is possibly New Zealand’s bestselling author, ever.

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So, what do you think of the three finalists for the first-ever Ngaio Marsh Award? Have you read any of them? Do you agree with the judges? Which is your favourite? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Other great Crime and Thriller events at the upcoming The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival

Further to my post a couple of weeks back letting you all know about "Setting the Stage for Murder", the great Friday night event at the upcoming The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival where the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will be announced, I thought I would share with you some of the other crime and thriller highlights from the programme.

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER:

International Night - 7:30pm
Join five outstanding international writers and get a taste of what lies ahead in this festival of ideas, wit, insight, entertainment and stimulation. Renowned broadcaster Kim Hill will host online columnist and class politics commentator Joe Bageant, exciting British thriller writer Simon Kernick, Commonwealth Writers' Prize shortlistee Kirsten Reed, 'mistress of sparkling dark comedy' Barbara Trapido, and poet and NZ Post Book Award fiction finalist Alison Wong, who "represent the wide range of genres, styles and preoccupations that the festival offers to all readers and writers who want to ‘get between the covers’." $20/$18

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FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER:

Tokyo Vice - 11:00am
At the age of 19, Jake Adelstein went to Japan in search of peace and tranquillity.What he got was a life of crime … crime reporting, that is, at the prestigious Yomiuri Shimbun. For 12 years of 80-hour work weeks, he covered the seedy side of Japan, where extortion, murder, human trafficking and corruption are as familiar as ramen noodles and sake. Jake talks about these experiences, which are documented in his book, Tokyo Vice: a Western reporter on the police beat in Japan with Andrew Holden, editor of The Press. $16/$14

A Tale of Two Cities: Belfast and Glasgow - 3:30pm
Ayrshire-born author Liam McIlvanney talks about his debut novel, All the Colours of the Town, with Belfast-schooled poet Iggy McGovern. This post-Troubles yarn ‘offers the reader not only all the pleasures of a page-turner with compelling crime elements, but also a brilliant study in the harsh, pawky affinity between those two majestic cities, Glasgow and Belfast’. The discussion will look at a shared history of religious bigotry, political violence and alcohol abuse. $16/$14

Setting the Stage for Murder (marquee event) - 7:00pm
See Crime Watch discussion about this event here.

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SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER:

Pressed Into Service - 12:30pm
Journalists often get a bad press – W.B. Yeats called them the shallowest people on the ridge of the earth – but theirs is a sometimes unenviable job, bedevilled by deadlines and by the need to sum up situations, often at speed, and write about them informatively and approachably. American columnist Joe Bageant, Japan crime specialist Jake Adelstein and local writer and blogger David Haywood talk about the various ways in which this impossible task can be achieved. $16/$14

Coffee and Crime - 2pm (FREE EVENT)
Grab a cup of coffee and join two of today’s most compelling crime writers, Michael Robotham and Paul Thomas, as they read from their latest works. FREE

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SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

Captured: An Hour with Neil Cross - 12:30pm
Neil Cross is the author of several psychological thrillers, including Always the Sun and Burial as well as the best-selling memoir Heartland. One of the most sought after TV writers around, he has been the lead script writer for the award-winning BBC spy drama series, Spooks, and is the creator and writer of the new psychological crime drama Luther, which was released in the UK in May this year. Neil talks about his career, and his latest book Captured, with Christchurch crime writer Paul Cleave. $16/$14

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So, seems like a pretty cool line-up. There are plenty of great non-crime offerings at The Press Christchurch Writers' Festival this year too - you can check out all the writers and events here.

Are you heading along? What events have caught your attention? Thoughts and comments welcome.