In the run-up to the publication of my new Marple book in late summer (sorry for the publication delay, it’s due to pictures taking time and bookseller preferences!), I will be speaking at a few events in June. I’ll give a talk at Bodies from the Library at the British Library on 1 June 2024, and be in conversation at both Belfast Book Festival (11 June 2024) and Felixstowe Book Festival (29 June 2024). More to come!
The (almost) full details for the International Agatha Christie Festival 2024 have now been announced, and I’m thrilled to say that I’ll be speaking about the search for the “definitive” Miss Marple in the evening of 13 September at 7pm. I’ll be discussing Joan Hickson’s Miss Marple and other depictions (including Helen Hayes) sharing new information and some nice clips and illustrations. This is as well as the Swinging Christies event with Gray Robert Brown on the Wednesday. I’m also taking part in the All About Agatha panel on the Thursday evening (debating the best screen adaptation).
There is more to be announced, and I may pop up at another event… It’s sure to be a great week, so do join us in Torquay! Details here.
I’m so excited to launch The Swinging Christies, a new podcast co-presented and co-produced with the writer Gray Robert Brown. It looks at Agatha Christie in the 1960s and, among other things, argues for a reappraisal of her later work. You can find episodes on all major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Audible and Apple Podcasts. More info over at Christietime.com.
I’m also honoured to say that I will be one of the speakers at this year’s Bodies from the Library event, taking place at the British Library on 1 June. Tickets available from their website now.
This year has probably been the busiest yet for me, such is the continuing popularity of Agatha Christie.
In September I had a wonderful time speaking at the International Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay. I arrived straight from the Agatha Christie Conference at the University of Exeter, where I was one of the keynotes, and at the end of the week it was great to give the after dinner speech at Greenway House, Christie’s holiday home, on her birthday.
Most recently I was thrilled to be invited to India to speak at the Dehradun Literature Festival. My wonderful hosts ensured that this was a great event. I particularly enjoyed running a workshop for local children, where we used some of Christie’s techniques to create their own stories.
My next event is the Agatha Christie Festival Internacional in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife. It’s always a brilliant event and I can’t wait to talk about Miss Marple. There is much more to come next year in support of my forthcoming book Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness, which you can preorder at Amazon UK now, if you’re keen… There is also The Swinging Christies, a new podcast project that I’m doing with the writer Gray Robert Brown. More on that soon!
All in all, it’s an exciting time to be researching Agatha Christie!
Great to see that tickets for the International Agatha Christie Festival are on sale now! I’m taking parts in three of the events: the All About Agatha discussion (14 Sept), speaking after dinner at Greenway (15 Sept), and giving a talk about Margaret Rutherford’s Miss Marple before a screening of Murder at the Gallop (16 Sept). I have lots of new and fun info to share, so hope to see some of you there!
Tickets available to buy here (at the time of writing, the Greenway dinner is not yet on sale – keep an eye out if you’re keen as it goes quickly). Of course, there are loads of other great events going on as well.
Registration is also open for the Agatha Christie Conference, taking place 12-13 Sept. I’m one of the two keynotes and will be asking what we know about Miss Marple, as I share some of the research for my next book.
It has been quite a busy couple of months for me because 12 November saw the publication of Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World in the UK! If you haven’t got your hands on a copy yet what are you waiting for?! It even features a foreword by Mark Gatiss! You can see links to various online retailers here – including The Book Depository, which ships internationally for free for those of you outside the UK. I hope that you enjoy it if you do buy it.
If you need more convincing here’s a lovely review. Also, a reminder that only the hardback will feature the 400+ illustrations – when it moves into paperback, most of those will disappear.
Over the last few weeks I have taken part in a lot of events (all online, of course), which Agatha Christie fans may find interesting. I took part in the Perfect Crime UK festival in an event with Barry Forshaw which was captured for YouTube and can be seen here, while I also spoke to Exeter Library about the new book, for a video chat available here. I wrote an article about the book for Shots magazine, and also took part in two podcasts (with more to come!) – Jim Noy’s In GAD We Trust, and All About Agatha. Also, The New European newspaper used the book as the basis for an article about Poirot, which you can read here.
I’ve also taken part in two forthcoming TV documentaries, and so there’s not avoiding me yet! I’ll share more details when I’m able to, but one is due at Christmas and the other at Easter 2021. I was also in a Channel 5 documentary recently, which has been put on YouTube – my interview was filmed as soon as we came out of the first lockdown, which explains my bizarre hair!
Anyway, that’s enough self-publicity for today – I just hope you enjoy the book! And if you do, feel free to tell others, including through reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It is very difficult to get the word out when you launch a book while all the bookshops are closed…
I was very sad to see so many exciting events from this year postponed, so I’m thrilled to say that I’ll be taking part in some online events in their place. These talks will tie in with the publication of my new book, Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World, which will be out at the end of October. You can see the beautiful cover design by Bill Bragg below.
I’m honoured to be able to say that the book will feature a foreword by the marvellous Mark Gatiss!
The brand new Virtual International Mystery Festival is running from 12-15 September, and you can see the full programme here. I’ll be giving an illustrated talk on 13 September about Agatha Christie and television, with a short Q&A afterwards.
Also on 13 September Sophie Hannah and I will be taking part in Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, which has moved online for this year. We will be speaking on The Writing Life podcast, discussing Poirot. The festival itself is a partnership between the University of East Anglia and the National Centre for Writing
Then, on 15 September, I’ll be giving another (different) illustrated talk online as part of the International Agatha Christie Festival, and while speaking to a camera may not be quite as good as attending the event in person, I hope that you’ll enjoy my talk about the many faces of Hercule Poirot. You can show your interest here, or go direct to the festival’s YouTube channel here.
On 17 September I’ll be interviewing Sophie Hannah for HarperCollins Australia, and I’ll be quizzing her about her new Poirot adventures – there will also be the opportunity for those watching to ask her questions.
The book is available to preorder just about anywhere you can think of, including at Hive, Waterstones, Amazon UK, Amazon US, and Book Depository. Please order at a local bookshop if you can.
[Post edited and updated 29 August]
I’m really pleased to say that I’ll be making an appearance at this year’s Greenway Literary Festival. I’ll be speaking with Guy Slater, who produced the brilliant Miss Marple series on the BBC starring the peerless Joan Hickson. You can find more information and book a ticket here. We’ll be speaking in the evening of Friday 12 June, and there are plenty of other events that sound great – plus it’s good to have any excuse to visit Agatha Christie’s gorgeous Devon home, now owned by the National Trust.
I’m thrilled to say that I’ll be talking at the Perfect Crime festival in Liverpool in November 2020. I can’t wait to join Sophie Hannah for a panel about (who else?) Hercule Poirot in his centenary year. There is a great line up for the day – you can see the full programme here and book a place here.
Over the last few years I’ve had a great time giving talks about Agatha Christie at various events, including a discussion of some lesser known screen adaptations at the inaugural Greenway Literary Festival last year. Most recently I was delighted to introduce a screening of Crooked House at the International Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay in September 2019.
I have quite a few talks already lined up for 2020 (and even one pencilled in for 2021!), and once I can tell people about them I will. Although this site holds the archive for the Agatha Christie on Screen blog, from now on it’s a place where I can let people know where they can hear one of my talks or read one of my publications.
If you have any enquiries please email Agathachristieonscreen@gmail.com
Dr Mark Aldridge 