Traitors crime writer in literary festival line-up

4 hours ago

Chloe HughesWest Midlands

News image — Harriet Tyce is one of more than 20 authors scheduled for the event in Oswestry

BBC A blonde woman standing outside a large castle with a blue, pink and purple sky. She is wearing a green coat with large buttons — Harriet Tyce is one of more than 20 authors scheduled for the event in Oswestry

A crime author who appeared on the Traitors is among more than 20 authors appearing at a new literary festival celebrating women.

The Excellent Women Festival starts on 7 March and will be held at the Holroyd Community Theatre near Oswestry, Shropshire.

Hosted by the town's Booka Bookshop, its main event on 8 March coincides with International Women's Day.

As well as Harriet Tyce, who concealed her job as a bestselling author on the popular BBC murder-mystery show, the event will feature Shropshire-based authors including Amy Beashel, Carys Green and Jenny Blackhurst.

The Saturday event will see an author dinner with each table led by a local writer, who will talk about their writing and an "excellent woman" who has inspired them.

These include best-selling writers Clare Mackintosh, Lucy Easthope and Anne Garthwaite.

Lucy Easthope A woman with long brown and grey hair smiling. She is sitting at a table with a grey wall in the background. She is wearing a white shirt and a black jacket with white flowers on it — Lucy Easthope lives in Shropshire and is an adviser on emergency planning and disaster recovery

Listen: Lucy Easthope, emergency planner, on Desert Islands Discs

Several events will be held on 8 March, including brunch with Naz Shah, MP for Bradford West, about her book, Honoured.

There will also be panels, lectures and talks which discuss various topics including the challenges of combining motherhood and work.

Tyce will join a panel of other authors discussing what women want when it comes to reading.

The two-day event is named after one of the most popular novels by Oswestry-born author, Barbara Pym, and is described as a "long-held dream".

Caroline Lang and Carrie Morris, co-founders of the festival, said the idea began five years ago, when they hosted a lockdown event to mark the publication of Dr Paula Byrne's book about Barbara Pym.

"Carrie and I talked that day about our dream of running a festival together, celebrating women as readers and writers," said Lang.

"The plan was always to put Barbara Pym at its heart by naming the festival after one of her best-known novels, Excellent Women.

"Shropshire has a vibrant community of writers and readers and in planning the Excellent Women Festival we wanted to create a programme which would celebrate many of our fabulous local authors, whilst also welcoming a diverse and eclectic mix of writers from further afield with events for every reading taste."

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