EDINBURGH FESTIVAL
()yal In Association with A yceum NULL I heatre ompany 7 bOO k5
The Grand Dame of British crime writing comes to Edinburgh via the House of Lords to tell us just why she's so keen on bloody murder. Words: Brian Donaldson
lt's drffrcult to rmaqrne murderous thoughts brewrnc; rnsrde the head of Baroness James of Holland Park, better known as PD. James. Yet, after a crrrnrnal career of the lrterary brand spannrno 37 years and srxteen books, she rs more lrkely to be found foragrnq around rn old churches than being holed up rn a lrbrary, attemptrnc) to fathom the mrnds of the latest serral krllers Prolrfrc she may be,
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obsessrve she arn't 'I set out Wrth very hrgh artistrc ambrtrons
M (mday — Saturday
P.D.’S TIPS
2,7ztly -— IAugust at 8pm and I thought that thrs [the tlthink that Tickets: _ detectrve novel] would be a , (‘ wonderful apprentrceshrp for a male wr'tersl “mu ’0,” ‘ would-be Wrrter,’ she confesses partiCUIal'ly, deaI
'Then I realzsed that I could stay wrthrn the corrstrarnts of the so- called fOrmula of the detectrve
much more with weaponry and violent events, and the women are more interested in motive and characterisation. ' P.D.James
Students Ital/price in Stalls and Grand (Irrcle
Homely, James: PD. James comes to Edinburgh
wrrter and become a uoed wrrter ’
Book Festrval rncludes a strand entrtled ’Women In Crrme', It seems pertrnent to enqurre Just what (tualrtres a woman can
And rt would appear, a rtood
wrrter frt for adaptatron, as’ ever
Box Office: ()131 248 4848
brrng to the ctenre
'l hate these cheap (reneralrsatrons,' counters James 'But I suppose l thrnk that the Arnerrcan male wrrters, partrcularly, deal much more wrth weaponry and vrolent events, and the women are more rnterested rn rnotrve and characterrsatron, There are some youno women wrrters today who are wrrtrnc) what you lrrlttlti (all hard-borled crrme novels '
half of her books have been made rnto TV serrals, brrndrnu the lrl1es of Adam Datolresh and Cordelra Gray to a wrder aud- renc e Suc h populrst rrlorres must have seemed far off 't'xhen
James frnally began wrrtrrrrr r‘v;‘.‘e|s rr‘. l962 ‘ a relatrvely late starter at the age 42 haunt; been rn full-trme employment
rn the NHS, as well as carrnc; for her husband who returned
PD. James, The Post Office Theatre, Sat 15 Aug, 11.30am, £6
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24 THEUST 23 Jul~6 Aug l998
home rncapacrtated after the ‘.'.ar As thrs year's Edrnburgh
(£4).
James Ellroy
Written approval
Get your bookmarks ready for the Book Festival’s highlights.
Irvine Welsh
The Spiegeltent, Tue 18 Aug, 7.30pm, £7 (£5)
l-lrbs' most famous fan asrde from Mb, The Proclarmers and Frnley Quaye -- reads from hrs latest work, the approprrately entrtled Fr/th Now that the hype has dred down and the backlash rs well under way, thrs may be the trme to look at hrs work With some measured analysrs
James Ellroy
The Post Office Theatre, Fri 21 Aug, 11.30am, £6 (£4); 7.30pm, £7 (£5) Two events from the godfather of late 20th century pulp frctron The frrst rs a chance to meet the man who penned such classrcs as Whrte Jazz and L A COrrfrderrtral, whrle the second sees hrrn talkrng abOut hrs vrsron of the Crlmrnal and polrtrcal hrstory of the USA.
Ralph Steadman
The Post Office Theatre. Sun 23 Aug, 11.30am, £6 (£4)
In the same week that Fear And Loathrng rs screened at the Frlm Festrval, the orrqrnal book's Illustrator talks about Gonzo -- The Art, hrs partnershrp Wrth Hunter S. Thompson and the work he has produced over a 30-year perrod for the lrkes of Punch and Roll/pg Stone
Nick Hornby
The Post Office Theatre, Tue 25 Aug, 11.30am, £6 (£4)
Arsenal's most famous fan - asrde from Melvyn Bragg, Mrchelle Gayle and Paula Yates — grves hrs own take on the notron of 'relatronshrps' rn the 90s Hrs latest book, About A Boy takes hrs past obsessrons ~- mu5rc and football - and fuses them rnto a tale of male rrresponsrbrlrty
Grtta Sereney
The Spiegeltent, Sat 29 Aug, 3.30pm, £6 (£4)
Grtta Sereney rs no stranger to controversy, but her books on Franz Stangl — commandant of Treblrnka — and Albert Speer — Hrtler's archrtect — are teddy bears’ prcnrcs compared to her last one, Cries Unheard, The Story Of Mary Be//_ Here, she explarns JUSI why the story had to be told.