News Archive 2004

Minette's holiday greeting, 2004

As 2004 drew to a close, Minette wrote a special note to the readers of her email newsletter. In it, she took a look back at 2004 and offered a hint about her next book, The Devil's Feather.

Read Minette's message > >

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Minette's life-changing novels

The team behind the Orange Prize for Fiction, which celebrates women writers, recently conducted a survey of 400 women to find out which books have made a difference to their lives. Results from the survey were published in The Independent. Minette selected To Kill a Mockingbird and Rebecca.

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
One of the most beautifully written books - rendered more powerful because the racism is described through the eyes of a child. Contains two highly memorable characters Atticus Finch and Boo Radley. Such a perfect creation that Harper Lee has never published another book.

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
I remember the impact it made on me when I read it because the most powerful character in the book is dead. It's extraordinary to construct a novel around a dead person, with no voice of her own, but who is so dominant the reader comes to know her better than the narrator.

Minette's comments were originally published in The Independent on 14 September 2004. Read the full article > >

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Minette's trip to Sierra Leone
In April 2004, Minette travelled to Sierra Leone as a guest of Médecins sans Frontières. Her assignment was to examine and help publicise the work that MSF is doing to improve mother-child health in that troubled country. In addition to an appearance on BBC Breakfast to discuss her experiences, Minette has written an article for The Sunday Times Magazine. The article is the first in series - "Authors in the Front Line" - that the magazine is publishing to bring a fresh perspective to the suffering in countries such as Sierra Leone.

Read Minette's article on the MSF's web site > >

Watch Minette on BBC Breakfast  > >

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2004 Orange Prize for Fiction winner announced

Andrea Levy won the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel, Small Island. Minette served as one of five judges for the prestigious prize and she appeared at the award ceremony on 8 June 2004. She is pictured (centre) with chair of judges Sandi Toksvig (left) and shortlisted author Rose Tremain (right).

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Lesson learned! Minette teaches crime writing masterclass
As part of the London Book Fair held in March 2004, English PEN and the Daily Mail sponsored another in their series of successful masterclasses. Minette, along with fellow crime writer Mark Billingham (right) and chair Peter Guttridge (centre), taught the class to an audience of eager and talented "about-to-be" writers.

One of Minette's fans and a writer himself, Keith Walters (not a relation!) attended the class and kindly sent us an excellent review of the day's events.

Get Writing, BBCi's extensive online resource for writers, has a series of video clips from the masterclass, as well as an edited transcript of the discussion:

• Watch video clips
• Read edited transcript: Writing Crime Fiction

For an overview of the class by English PEN, please visit their website.