New writers given a chance to shine at festival

Aberdeen’s crime fiction festival, Granite Noir, will be back for a fourth year in 2020 – with plans already underway for the biggest and most ambitious event yet.

Having established itself as one of Scotland’s signature literature festivals, Granite Noir has doubled its attendance levels since its inception in 2017.

Each year, the Locals in the Limelight slot offers the chance for some of the North-east’s most talented up-and-coming writers to read extracts from their noir fiction alongside some of the festival’s top crime authors, and Aberdeen Performing Arts is on the lookout for local writers to take up a prime spot in next year’s highly anticipated event.

Aberdeen Performing Arts chief executive, Jane Spiers, said: ‘In 2019, Granite Noir hosted 37 events across seven venues, with 64 international authors. We are so proud of how far the festival has come.

• Granite Noir 2019 was a huge success – click HERE.

‘Granite Noir attracts top international authors and fans of the crime fiction from far and wide, and we are delighted to be able to offer a fantastic platform for local authors to share their work each year as part of the festival.

‘If you are an unpublished or self-published writer based in the North-east of Scotland and would like a chance to showcase your work at Granite Noir 2020, we would like to hear from you.’

Local writer Eric Davidson, who was selected for the Locals in the Limelight slot in 2019, said: ‘Granite Noir has done wonders for my profile as an author.’

Anyone who is interested in applying can send an extract of no more than 5,000 words (a short story, novel extract, screenplay, drama extract, or examples of noir flash fiction), along with a one paragraph biography and (if submitting part of a novel) a brief description of the longer work. Be sure to include your contact information.

The deadline for submissions is September 2 2019 at noone, and they should be sent to via email to
Lesley Anne Rose: lesleyanne.rose@aberdeenperformingarts.com

To keep up to date with plans and announcements for next year’s festival, click HERE.