Orcrime book festival begins in the library

A new book festival celebrating the crime genre kicks off at the Orkney Library and Archive today, Thursday, and runs until Saturday.

As part of Orcrime, renowned author Ann Cleeves will reveal the winning story in Orkney’s first crime-writing contest. The award-winning author of the Shetland Quartet is judging the best entries in the competition run by Orkney Library and Archive and the George Mackay Brown Fellowship.

“Our writing competition has attracted over 40 entrants, the majority from Orkney, but also from far and wide, with one entry coming all the way from Italy,” said Stewart Bain, of Orkney Library and Archive.

Ann Cleeves will be joined at Orcrime by well-known crime-writers Lin Anderson, and Denise Mina, winner of the 2012 Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. All will share their work with an Orkney audience.

Stewart added: “Orcrime is all about bringing new folk into the library and opening up the work of these authors to a new audience.”

Alongside all the murder and intrigue, “Broth and Breid” will be be served up at noon on Thursday, October 11. Folk are invited along to have lunch at the library with soup and crostini made by library staff.

All events, apart from “Broth and Breid” are ticketed, with the Anne Cleeves and Denise Mina sessions already sold out. Tickets for the other events are available from Orkney Library.

For more details, see www.orkneylibrary.org.uk