Afternoon Tea with Val McDermid
8 June @ 14:30 - 15:15 BST
Grab a cuppa and get to know Scottish crime writer, Val McDermid. Val will be in conversation with novelist and Chair of The Society of Authors’ Management Committee, Joanne Harris, to discuss her work and career and offer a glimpse into her creative routine.
Programme
- Welcome, introductions and housekeeping from Joanne Harris (3 mins)
- Introduction from Val McDermid and a glimpse into her creative routine (30 mins)
- Val will do a short reading from her latest book ‘1989’ (5 mins)
- Q&A with the audience (10 mins)
- Summary and closing comments (2 mins)
- This event will be moderated by Lilly Brend-Fish – Events & Outreach Assistant, SoA
Send us your questions in advance
If you would like to send questions in advance, email Lilly Brend-Fish on [email protected] with ‘Val McDermid – Question’ in the subject header. We will prioritise questions sent in advance and answer as many as we can from the audience on the day.
SoA @ Home Fundraising Bookshop
Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store featuring books by authors and speakers taking part in the SoA @ Home Festival. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links, a percentage will go to the Authors’ Contingency Fund, providing hardship grants to authors in financial difficulty.
The Line-up
Val McDermid
One of the UK’s most accomplished and respected novelists, Val McDermid has sold over 18.5 million books to date across the globe and is translated into more than 40 languages. Her multi-award-winning series and standalone novels have been adapted for TV and radio, most notably the Wire in the Blood series featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan. The first series of the ITV adaptation of the Karen Pirie series, featuring a Scottish cold case detective, aired in 2022.
Val’s latest series, featuring young journalist Allie Burns, began with 1979, the first in a quintet, and will follow Allie’s life and experiences at ten year intervals. The second in the series, 1989, is published in paperback in February 2023. Val returns to Karen Pirie with her 2023 hardback, Past Lying, which will be published in October 2023.
Val was chair of the Wellcome Book Prize in 2017 and has served as a judge for both the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2018 Man Booker Prize. She is the recipient of six honorary doctorates and is an Honorary Fellow of St Hilda’s College, Oxford. She is a professor in the Centre of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
Among her many awards are the CWA Diamond Dagger recognising lifetime achievement and the Theakstons Old Peculier award for Outstanding Contribution to Crime Writing. Val is also an experienced broadcaster and much-sought-after columnist and commentator across print media.
Website: www.valmcdermid.com| Twitter: @valmcdermid | Facebook: valmcdermid
Joanne Harris
Joanne Harris is Chair of the SoA’s Management Committee. She is an author of nineteen novels in varying genres, including Chocolat, two collections of short stories, a Dr. Who novelette, various stage musical projects and three cookbooks. Joanne’s books have been published in over 50 countries and have won a number of British and international awards.
Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @Joannechocolat
Catch up with Joanne Harris’ previous #SoAatHome events:
Need to know
Accessibility
- Attendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript option
- If you require BSL interpretation for this event, please email [email protected]
Before the event
- Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link
- If the confirmation email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, please check your junk/spam email folder
- Please add [email protected] to your Safe Senders list so you receive our confirmation, and reminder emails
During the event
- This online event will take place on Zoom Webinar; you will not be visible on screen but will be able ask questions via the Q&A function or interact via the chat box
- This event will be recorded but you won’t be on screen
- Attendees have the option to turn on the live transcript option
- This event is 45 minutes
After the event
- Hashtag for this event: #SoAatHome
- You’ll be able to catch the recording on our Vimeo channel
Booking
Book your place by using the registration below.
All #SoAatHome events are free but if you can afford to, please consider donating to our Authors’ Contingency Fund and we suggest a minimum donation of £5. The fund is to help professional authors experiencing financial hardship. DONATE HERE
Financial support for authors in need through the health crisis and beyond
Since March 2020, the Authors’ Contingency Fund has distributed over £1 million in small grants to authors facing financial hardship due to COVID-19.
With at least 57% of authors facing financial losses during the pandemic, we have helped people struggling financially due to contractual, employment and event cancellations, others who have lost income due to illness, and others prevented from working because of caring responsibilities.
As the health crisis continues, applications for grants continue to come in, and our emergency funds are running low.
So, if you are in a position to help, please donate via the link below. If you are an author facing financial hardship, please click here to see if we can help.
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The Society of Authors is the UK’s biggest trade union for authors – representing more than 11,300 writers, illustrators, translators and other creative practitioners.
Our standard subscription rate is just £26.25 per quarter (£18.50 for students).
As an SoA member, you’ll get:
- Access to all our SoA @ Home Festival events for free
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- A range of member-only discounts, including books, insurance and travel
- And much more.
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Register
We will send you the Zoom joining details by email.
Please email [email protected] if you do not recieve them.
