Noirwich Crime Writing Festival Presents: Historical Debuts – Writing the Past for the Present

Jacqueline Crooks grew up in London’s migrant community in the 1970s, carving a space through music, culture and politics. For her work with charities and her short stories, Crooks has been nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Wasafiri New Writing Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award. Her debut novel, Fire Rush, is shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023.

Natalie Marlow was born and still lives in the West Midlands. After completing her MA in Crime Writing at the UEA, she began her PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London. Natalie was inspired to write Needless Alley by her great grandmother, who was one of thirteen children and lived and worked on the Birmingham canals.

Bridget Walsh was born in London to Irish immigrant parents. Bridget's debut novel, The Tumbling Girl, was written on the MA Creative Writing Crime Fiction course at UEA and won the UEA Little, Brown Award for Crime Fiction in 2019. Before this, she was an English teacher for 23 years, before leaving the profession to pursue her writing.