Faber & Faber

Learn to Write Crime Fiction with Mark Billingham

Thursday 2 April to Sunday 5 April 2009

Jaffé & Neale Bookshop
1 Middle Row
Chipping Norton
Oxfordshire OX7 5NH

In a unique collaboration with award-winning independent bookshop Jaffé & Neale, the Faber Academy presents an intense four-day writing workshop with bestselling crime-writers Mark Billingham and Laura Wilson.

Set over four days in the upstairs gallery of Jaffé & Neale, a wonderful bookshop in the picturesque Cotswold town of Chipping Norton, Mark Billingham and Laura Wilson have devised a course that will suit beginners every bit as much as those with a good degree of experience. There will be sessions on character, plot, dialogue and of course those all-important twists that keep thriller readers turning the pages.

Suspects can expect plenty of lively discussion, inspiring writing exercises and one-on-one tutorials. They can expect surprises. They can also expect to have plenty of fun ...

The course includes:

•   4 days intensive tuition with Mark Billingham and Laura Wilson (10am-5pm)

•   A complimentary Moleskine® Notebook

•   A daily artisan lunch

•   Regular coffee breaks

•   A Friday night reading in the bookshop by Mark Billingham and Laura Wilson followed by a glass of wine

•   A handy course pack including local hotel recommendations

•   A special discount off Faber books purchased at www.faber.co.uk

Course cost: £500 / €630 (price inclusive of VAT)

About the Tutors

Lead tutor Mark Billingham is the bestselling author of the series of novels featuring Detective Inspector Tom Thorne and the recent standalone thriller In The Dark. He has won the Sherlock Award for Best British Detective, the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award and been nominated for five CWA Daggers. He has also written extensively for television and worked for many years as a stand-up comedian.

He is a regular reviewer on Radio 4's 'Front Row' as well as writing about crime fiction for The Independent, the Sunday Times and Time Out. He has led creative writing workshops at the Harrogate and Cheltenham Festivals and has been the judge for many short story competitions.

Guest tutor Laura Wilson is the acclaimed author of seven crime novels. These include The Lover, which won the Prix Polar Europeen and most recently Stratton's War which was awarded the Ellis Peter Dagger for historical crime fiction. Aside from being crime fiction critic for the Guardian, she has tutored two Arvon courses on crime fiction as well as teaching many courses at Winchester Writer's Conference. She is chair of the 2009 Harrogate Crime Writer's Festival.

About Faber

Faber and Faber is the last of the great independent publishing houses in London. We were established in 1929 by Geoffrey Faber and our first editor was T. S. Eliot. Among our list of authors we are proud to publish five Booker Prize winners and eleven Nobel Laureates. We are particularly well-known for our unrivalled list of modern poets and playwrights, as well as for publishing writers of prize-winning fiction and general non-fiction.

About Jaffé and Neale

Patrick Neale and his Partner Polly Jaffé opened a bookshop in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, in 2001. They both worked around the country for Waterstone’s for many years prior to that. In 2006 they relocated the shop to the town centre and extended the space to provide a café, artspace and gift section. This culminated in the shop winning Independent Bookshop of the Year for 2007.

Patrick is a member of The Bookseller’s Association Council promoting bookselling nationally and he reviews fiction for The Bookseller. The shop sets out to source any book quicker than any other book supplier and is a meeting place for the whole community, hosting bookclubs and a range of literary events. Patrick says 'it’s our aim to showcase books that customers won’t see elsewhere. We set out to provide a modern bookshop in a traditional friendly environment'.

To make a booking ...

Contact Patrick on either patrickk@faber.co.uk or +44 (0) 20 7927 3822.
Alternatively, write to:

Patrick Keogh
Faber and Faber Ltd
74-77 Great Russell Street
London WC1NB 3DA

Places are strictly limited to 15, so book soon to avoid disappointment.