Wakefield author Catherine Yaffe, Wakefield Library and Darling Reads of Horbury are getting involved in the Crime Writers Association’s National Crime Reading Month this June, with a full day of crime featuring some of the region’s top crime writers. The event will take place on Saturday 17th June between 9am and 4pm. The event is ‘free’ and you can book here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on?q=wakefield murder
National Crime Reading Month is an initiative developed and run by the Crime Writers’ Association, this year in collaboration with The Reading Agency, which aims to bring new books to existing readers and new readers to the world’s most popular and best-selling genre. Wakefield Library are plotting to bring readers the very best of ‘crime by local authors’ and get everyone to #PickUpAPageTurner, with Horbury-based bookshop, Darling Reads running a pop-up shop in Create Café, which will also open to support the event.
The Crime Writers’ Association was founded in 1953 by John Creasey, a world-renowned English crime writer who wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms in his lifetime, many of which reached the screen. The CWA’s aim is to support, promote and celebrate this most adaptable and successful of genres, and is home to the prestigious Daggers, the premier awards in British crime writing. The CWA has a passionate membership of authors of all ages and at all stages of their careers, from high profile and bestselling writers to young debuts and established veterans.
‘Crime’ isn’t just the police procedural or traditional mystery many people think of. It covers everything from psychological suspense to spy thrillers, historical to sci-fi, cosy to noir, encompassing some of the world’s best-known characters and authors – from Jack Reacher to Vera Stanhope, from Ian Rankin to Robin Stevens. Crime writing and true crime spawns TV, game and film adaptations across the globe with a huge following. National Crime Reading Month aims to bring these stories and more to readers nationwide.
Anthony Horowitz, who has written more than 40 books including the bestselling Alex Rider teen spy series, said in support of National Crime Reading Month: “A gripping story, the highest stakes and the search for truth. What better way to while away the hours? National Crime Reading Month is a great idea. Really there should be twelve of them a year.”
Vaseem Khan, author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series, and the Malabar House historical crime novels, said: “The soaring popularity of crime fiction is now a global phenomenon with voices from around the world highlighting the incredible breadth of the field. It's been my privilege to both write crime and to represent a vanguard of writers from non-traditional backgrounds. As an ambassador for National Crime Reading Month, I hope to celebrate not just great books and the authors who write them, but also the people who read them, debate them, critique them, adore them, and, occasionally, throw them against the wall. In short, our wonderful readers, without whom none of this works.”
The team at Wakefield Library are excited to bring you a fresh look at crime, where there really is something for everyone. Find out more at and at the crimereading.com website, where you can search for events by location to find out what’s happening in your area.
This year National Crime Reading Month features events across the UK and Ireland run by libraries, bookshops, book clubs, reading groups, and even museums. Find out more by following the #PickUpAPageTurner hashtag on social media.
