The creator of TV detective Vera is coming to Smithdown Litfest 2024

Crime writer Ann Cleeves has penned 11 best-selling Vera novels, as well as creating the popular detectives who feature in BBC One’s Shetland and ITV’s The Long Call.

Now, the creator of ITV’s long-running series Vera, played on screen by Brenda Blethyn, is coming to Smithdown Litfest in September. 

Although she now lives in Northumberland where the Vera books are set, Ann Cleeves has links to Merseyside after living with her husband Tim, an ornithologist, when he was warden of Hilbre Island.

Ann still has fond memories of being the only residents on the tiny island off the coast of West Kirby because it was where she first began her writing career.

She will be coming to Liverpool for her second Smithdown Litfest, talking about her career and her famous characters in An Evening with Ann Cleeves at Ullet Road Unitarian Church on Friday September 27.

It’s part of an eclectic line-up covering lots of different genres and ages, including ‘in conversation’ events, free outdoor storytelling for children and creative writing workshops.

Ian Skillicorn, who founded the festival in 2017, says he tries to bring together authors who offer something for everyone.

“The idea behind Smithdown Litfest has always been to cover as many different genres and readers as possible. There are some people who might buy a ticket for everything, and some will buy for just one, but the more years you do it the more you see what sort of authors and topics people are interested in.

“I think if you have a nice mix of sport, history, crime, there’s something for everybody, and this will be the first time we’ve done storytelling for children in Greenbank Park which will hopefully be the first of many.

“Families can bring a blanket or sit on the grass and local author Patrick Graham will be reading from his latest work-in-progress, a children’s fantasy adventure called House of Almost All Known Things.”

Along with Ann Cleeves, Smithdown Litfest 2024 will also feature best-selling Liverpool crime fiction author MK Murphy launching her latest novel Blood Debt, and historian Fern Riddell. She’ll be revealing the fascinating story of radical suffragette Kitty Marion who had a surprising connection to Sefton Park Palm House where her event, on Thursday September 26, takes place.

There’s also a big one for Reds fans – author Anthony Quinn will be in conversation with about his book Klopp: My Liverpool Romance at Mossley Hill Church on Saturday September 28. The book is a love letter to the former LFC boss, giving an insight into one of the Reds’ best-loved managers through the 2019-20 season with an added ending around the time of his departure. 

Ian says the festival, which he spends best part of the year planning, attracts well-known authors keen to support a grassroots book celebration. Previous years have seen evenings with Chris Tarrant and Jimmy McGovern. 

“We get a lot of goodwill from people who are very successful but who want to be involved in something like Smithdown Litfest,” he adds. “Ours isn’t one of the big name festivals but it’s a proper local one and it’s fantastic when people come here.

“Smithdown Litfest is for the local community, so the events are held in local churches, the library, Palm House; maybe buildings that people are very familiar with, but they don’t always go into.

“And because funding pays for the festival, all of the proceeds this year will go to Smithdown in Bloom again so it will pay for planters, flowers and compost. If you buy a ticket not only have you had a great night out but that money is going to go directly into making where you live a nicer place.”

Smithdown Litfest 2024 is supported by the Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History, Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies at Liverpool John Moores University; and by The Granada Foundation.

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