A CRIME-WRITING festival in Aberdeen has unveiled its line-up for 2025 with a range of top names set to attend.
The ninth edition of Granite Noir will take place in Aberdeen from Thursday, February 20 until Sunday, February 23.
Husband and wife podcasting duo Iain Stirling and Laura Whitmore will be among those to attend as well as New York Times best sellers Lucy Foley and Chris Whitaker.
Comedian Alasdair Beckett-King (below) will also be at the event, which is hailed as one of Scotland’s leading literary festival.
Criminal duos will be in focus with the husband and wife team Ambrose Parry – made up of Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman – will meet in conversation with Nicci French – the pseudonym for writing partnership and journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French.
Stirling and Whitmore meanwhile will perform a live version of their podcast Murder They Wrote.
Bestselling author Paula Hawkins will also discuss her new thriller The Blue Hour and introduce a screening of The Girl on the Train – the film adaptation of her first thriller.
Chief executive of Aberdeen Performing Arts, Sharon Burgess commented in anticipation of this year’s events: “Granite Noir sets out each year to celebrate the best in crime writing encompassing all that the genre inspires and is inspired by, including conversations with incredible authors, plays, immersive experiences and music as well as exhibitions, workshops and of course cocktails.
“The line up for this year’s festival truly reflects that ethos with all of the above as well as live podcasts and film screenings and so much more taking place across four action packed days.
"Granite Noir is proudly rooted as an event unique to the north east of Scotland, and this year we are putting the festival on a truly global stage, with many events being livestreamed so that no matter where you are in the world, you can be part of a wonderful weekend of gory, gritty and glorious fun."
Police procedures will also go under the microscope with insight into the inner workings of Scotland's criminal justice system from Professor Nick Fyfe, Robert Gordon University’s vice principal, as he delivers Tales From the Beat – reflections on 30 years of fieldwork with the Police at Cowdray Hall.
Granite Noir has also invited three international authors to discuss what’s lost and found when working with different languages.
Leading Icelandic translator and novelist Quentin Bates, award-winning author Teresa Solana and Norwegian Arctic Mysteries author Ørjan Karlsson will bring their global perspectives to the Lost in Translation event.
Rebecca Edser, head of EventScotland said: “We are proud to support Granite Noir as part of EventScotland’s National Events Funding Programme.
"With the announcement of such heavy weights within the crime fiction scene, next year’s festival is set to be as thrilling as ever.
"Alongside authors talks and panel discussions there are a range of workshops, theatre performances and exhibitions that pay homage to the city, crime fiction and noir writing in all its darkly fascinating forms.
"Literature festivals play an important role in Scotland’s events portfolio not least by providing a platform which brings diverse voices and communities together, while also fostering learning, imagination, and creative engagement.”
