1) Last week, P.D. James was awarded the Theakstons Old Peculiar Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award. James has been publishing for fifty years. Her first novel,
Cover Her Face, appeared in 1962. Her most recent work, the non-fiction book Talking About Detective Fiction, was published in 2009. Speaking recently to the BBC, James hinted that she was working on something new: ‘I am still writing, but something very different; something
shorter and something which I’m keeping very secret at the moment.’ She later admitted that it did not feature her long-time detective, Adam Dalgliesh.
2) P.D. James is one of the oldest writers still putting pen to paper. She turns 91 this year. Speaking about being in her nineties, James told the Guardian: ‘At my age the reality is that you just don’t know what is around the corner. Once you are over 90 it
is a bumpy ride.’ In another interview, on the occasion of her ninetieth birthday, she talked of a separate fear: ‘I
hate the thought of dying in the middle of a book. After all, when you’re ninety, you can’t be sure. So it’s a bit of a risk.’ She was also one of the Spectator’s 80 over 80, where Ian Rankin wrote that she remains ‘as sharp as any of her fictional murder instruments.’
3) James is one of the few writers to have a seat in the House of Lords. After receiving an OBE in 1983, she was made
Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991. She joins another stalwart of crime fiction, Ruth Rendell, in the upper chamber. Though they share a day job, their political loyalties differ: James sits on the Conservative side
of the house, while Rendell takes her place on the opposition benches with Labour. They know each other well, however, appearing together at the Cheltenham literary festival in 2009.
4) James has had a long and varied career beyond her writing duties. She worked for the NHS and the Home Office. In addition, she has been a Governor of the BBC, served as a
magistrate and was on the board of the British council. She is currently a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Society of Literature. She also achieved notoriety when guest-editing the Today programme in 2009 by questioning Mark Thompson, the Director-General of
the BBC, on pay at the corporation. She subsequently won the Nick Clarke Interview Prize for her efforts.
5) James’s novels have been adapted numerous times. Her Adam Dalgliesh novels were adapted into a series starring Roy Marsden in the eighties. Her
books Death In Holy Orders and The Murder Room were turned into feature films by the BBC, with Martin Shaw taking up sleuthing duties. Her standalone novel The Children of
Men, meanwhile, was made into a film in 2006, starring Clive Owen, Michael Caine and
Julianne Moore.
Matthew Richardson
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