The Henry Bloom Noble Library is supporting a UK-wide competition to find the best young crime writers in the Isle of Man.
Organised by the Crime Writers’ Association, together with library authorities throughout the British Isles, the competition is open to anyone aged 18 or under.
Isle of Man entries will be judged by staff from the Henry Bloom Noble Library and other participating libraries in the Island. The shortlist of eight young writers will be chosen by Chris Ewan, the Baldwin-based author of the Good Thief’s Guide series of mystery novels. Mr Ewan is also the local CWA co-ordinator.
The young winner from the Isle of Man will receive a ?50 book voucher for the Lexicon Bookshop and will be considered for the national prize to be announced during National Crime Fiction Week (14th - 21st June).
Borough librarian Jan Macartney said, "On behalf of all my colleagues in public libraries Island-wide, I would like to say how happy we are to support this exciting new initiative and we look forward to receiving a 'criminal' amount of entries!"
Mr Ewan said, "I’m delighted to be participating in the Young Crime Writer’s Competition in the Isle of Man. I know we have a lot of young writing talent here in the Island, and I can’t wait to read the submitted stories.
"Who knows, perhaps we’ll discover the next Lee Child or Val McDermid?"
Other libraries in the Isle of Man participating in the competition are the Family and Mobile Library, Douglas; Onchan Library; the Ward Library, Peel; Port Erin Library, Ramsey Library and Castletown Library.
The shortlisted writers will be invited as special guests to the Mannslaughter and Mayhem event on Saturday 24th April at the Erin Arts Centre - an evening of award-winning, bestselling crime fiction featuring Scottish authors Stuart MacBride, Allan Guthrie and Donna Moore – when the Isle of Man winner of the CWA Young Crime Writers’ competition will be announced and presented with their prize by the guest authors.
The event is supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council, Erin Arts Centre, Henry Bloom Noble Library, Lexicon bookshop and Manx Radio.
Mr Ewan, who is organising the event, said, "This is a real coup for the Isle of Man, and I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to attract authors of this calibre to the Island.
"I’m a huge fan of all their work, and I have no doubt that hearing them speak about their writing and their influences will be truly fascinating and a great deal of fun."
All stories submitted for the competition must have a crime theme, have a 1,000 word limit and be submitted no later than 19th February, together with an entry form. These are obtainable from the main counter of the Henry Bloom Noble Library (10-12 Victoria Street, Douglas; 696461).
Tickets for Mannslaughter and Mayhem are ?7 and available from the Erin Arts Centre Box Office (telephone 832662) and the Lexicon Bookshop. For more information, contact chrisewan(at)manx.net.
Pictured: Local author Chris Ewan at a book signing evening at the Henry Bloom Noble Library in March last year.
