Val McDermid and Emma Smith Chaired by Triona Adams

Crime writer and playwright Val McDermid and Shakespeare expert Professor Emma Smith discuss some of the mysteries around two giants of the English stage—Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.

McDermid’s forthcoming play And Midnight Never Come, commissioned by the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, deals with the notoriously controversial circumstances of the death of Christopher Marlowe.

McDermid has sold more than 16 million books across the globe and has been translated into 40 languages. She is best known for her Wire in the Blood series, featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan.  How The Dead Speak is the 11th book in the series.

Smith is professor of Shakespeare studies at Hertford College, Oxford, and the author of This Is Shakespeare. She has published and lectured widely and her podcasts on Shakespeare and early modern dramatists are available at Apple Podcasts.

Discussions are chaired by former West End agent and director of the St Hilda’s College writers’ day at the festival Triona Adams.

This event is part of St Hilda’s College writers’ day at the festival, a series of talks featuring the works of graduates and fellows of the college.