University of Edinburgh Writer in Residence with Val McDermid

What does it take to build and sustain a life and career in writing over almost forty years? Join us to hear the award-winning author, Val McDermid reflect on where she came from, how she began as a writer, the work she has produced in that time, and the many and varied places it has taken her over a long and prestigious career.

This event particularly marks the re-issue of Val’s earliest crime series – the Lindsay Gordon novels – first published in the 1980s, and seminal in what has become known as the ‘queering of the genre’. Join us to celebrate this moment and learn what it means to look back to what came first, and forwards to what might come next.

Val will be interviewed by current Writer in Residence Mary Paulson-Ellis, followed by audience Q&A and a book signing. Books will be available for sale at the event, supported by The Portobello Bookshop. Tickets are free, so be sure to sign up early.

Val McDermid is an international, no. 1 bestselling author of fiction, radio plays, short stories, and non-fiction. Her multi-award winning series and standalone novels have sold over 19million copies worldwide, been translated into more than forty languages, and adapted for TV and radio. From working class roots in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Val went on to study at University of Oxford before becoming a journalist. In her twenties she flirted with playwriting before turning to crime. Her first novel was published in 1987 and is being reissued in 2026. Val has also worked as a literary chair, talent spotter, prize judge and festival programmer amongst many other things.

Mary Paulson-Ellis is an award-winning author writing across crime, historical and literary fiction. Her debut novel The Other Mrs Walker was a Times bestseller and Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year. Mary lives in Edinburgh and in 2023 was named Dr Gavin Wallace Fellow by Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature for a novel about her home city. She is Chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland and in 2025 was appointed Writer-in-Residence at University of Edinburgh.

Room 4.25 Anatomy Lecture Theatre is on the second floor of the Old Medical School. Enter using Doorway 3, use the stairs or lift to floor 2, exit to your right, the Lecture Theatre is on your right. There is step-free access on the approach to Doorway 3 and level access into the Lecture Theatre.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Teviot Place, Doorway 3, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

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