P.D. James, whose celebrated career includes authorship of the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series, will be recognized at the 2011 Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival with the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. The festival, sponsored by the Theakston Brewery, will take place in Harrogate, Eng. from July 21-24.
A press release issued July 1, 2011 includes this response from James on her award: "It is always a satisfaction and an encouragement for a writer to win a prize, but I am particularly proud to be honoured by the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award because it comes from Harrogate, a town which it is always a delight to visit and which is the home of one of the most distinguished and pleasurable English literary festivals. I look forward very much to being in this beautiful town again and to receiving an award which, coming in my 91st year, means a great deal to me."
Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston, acknowledged James’ qualifications by saying, "Few are as prolific as she, dominating the genre for over 50 years. This award acknowledges that immense achievement."
Also announced today were the final contenders for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the winner of which will be announced at the festival on July 21. They include the following six titles by British and Irish authors:
- From The Dead by Mark Billingham (Tom Thorne series, book 9: Sphere)
- Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton (Corgi Books)
- 61 Hours by Lee Child (Jack Reacher series, book 14: Bantam Books)
- Dark Blood by Stuart MacBride (Logan McRae series, book 6: Harper Fiction)
- The Holy Thief by William Ryan (Captain Alexei Dimitrevich Korolev series, book 1: Pan Books)
- The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor (Michael Joseph)
"I'm delighted to see that the public have recognised the talents of a broad range of authors in this year's shortlist, from a debut novelist to names that have been bestsellers for several years,” Simon Theakston further remarked. "This list reflects the wealth of crime fiction talent we have within the UK and Ireland that continues to grow each year."
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