John Burdett is a British crime novelist. He is the bestselling author of Bangkok 8 and its sequels, Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts, The Godfather of Kathmandu, and Vulture Peak. His most recent novel in this series, The Bangkok Asset, was published on 4 August 2015. Wikipedia
Born in 1953 in Detroit, Michigan, Marshall Crenshaw learned to tune a guitar correctly at age ten and has been trying ever since. His first big break came in 1978 playing John Lennon in “Beatlemania”, first as an understudy in New York, then in the West Coast company followed by a national touring company. Removing himself from that situation in Feb. 1980, Marshall settled in New York City. After crossing paths with the great and legendary Alan Betrock, Marshall recorded his debut single “Something’s Gonna Happen” (for Betrock’s Shake Records label), which led to a deal with Warner Bros. His debut album, Marshall Crenshaw, was acclaimed as a masterpiece upon its release in 1982 and established him as a singular songwriter, record maker, and guitarist. The album spawned the hit single “Someday, Someway,” and other classics such as “(You’re My) Favorite Waste of Time,” “Whenever You’re On My Mind” and “Cynical Girl.”
Over the course of a career that’s spanned three decades, 13 albums, Grammy and Golden Globe nominations, film and TV appearances (Buddy Holly in “La Bamba”) and thousands of performances, Marshall Crenshaw’s musical output has maintained a consistent fidelity to the qualities of artfulness, craftsmanship and passion, and his efforts have been rewarded with the devotion of a broad and remarkably loyal fan base.
Along with touring around the country and the occasional recording project, Marshall currently hosts his own radio show, “The Bottomless Pit”, every Saturday at 10 PM on New York’s WFUV. Other current projects include a documentary film-in progress about legendary record producer Tom Wilson. Says Crenshaw, “This is a road that I never imagined taking before, but it’s been amazing and is going great..”
“Although he was seen as a latter-day Buddy Holly at the outset, he soon proved too talented and original to be anyone but himself.” – Trouser Press
Jeff Lindsay is the pen name of American playwright and crime novelist Jeffry P. Freundlich, best known for his novels about sociopathic vigilante Dexter Morgan. Many of his earlier published works include his wife Hilary Hemingway as a co-author. Wikipedia
Josh Ritter is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the “100 Greatest Living Songwriters” by Paste magazine. Wikipedia
Florida author Tom Corcoran’s “Guava Moon Revenge” is the eighth and most recent novel in the Alex Rutledge Series. His books, which include “Octopus Alibi,” “Air Dance Iguana,” “Hawk Channel Chase,” and “The Quick Adios,” are set primarily in the Florida Keys. Tom also recently wrote a series spin-off mystery, “Crime Almost Pays,” which features the private eyes known as “The Bumsnoops.”
After graduating in 1974, she researched a postgraduate doctorate on American Literature. She later taught at Dundee and began writing short stories in 1981. She began writing for women’s magazines after winning the 1986 Woman’s Own Short Story Competition. She was runner-up for the Bridport Short Story Prize in 1990 and won an Ian St James Award in 1993 for her short-story Karmic Mothers, which she later adapted for BBC2 television as part of its ‘Tartan Shorts’ series. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum (1995), won the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year award, beating Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh and Roy Jenkins’ biography Gladstone. The book is set in Yorkshire, narrated by Ruby Lennox, who takes the reader through the complex history of her family, covering the events of the twentieth century and reaching back into the past to uncover the lives of distant ancestors. The book has been adapted for radio and theatre, and has been adapted for television by the author. Her second novel, Human Croquet, was published in 1997 and relates the story of another family, the Fairfaxes, through flashback and historical narrative. Her third novel, Emotionally Weird, was published in 2000, and in 2002 a collection of short stories, Not the End of the World.
Kate Atkinson has written two plays for the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh: a short play, Nice (1996), and Abandonment, which premiered as part of the Edinburgh Festival in August 2000. She currently lives in Edinburgh and is an occasional contributor to newspapers and magazines. The four books Case Histories (2004), One Good Turn (2006), shortlisted for the British Book Awards Crime Thriller of the Year, When Will There be Good News? (2008) and Started Early, Took My Dog (2010), form a crime series featuring ex-policeman Jackson Brodie. These books were adapted for television and a 6-part series starring Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie was broadcast in 2011. In 2013 she published Life after Life, winner of the Costa Novel Award and the South Bank Sky Arts Literature Prize; and A God in Ruins (2015), a companion novel to Life After Life, featuring several of the same characters. In 2019 Jackson Brodie returned in Big Sky, and Atkinson also published Transcription.
(British Council – Literature)
Alabama Shakes is an American blues rock band formed in Athens, Alabama, in 2009. The band currently consists of lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, and drummer Steve Johnson. Wikipedia
In 2019 Bruttany Howard released a solo album, Jaime, adding a second dimension to what Alabama Shakes had accomplished.
Brandi M. Carlile is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans multiple genres. As of 2018, Carlile has released six studio albums and earned seven Grammy Award nominations, including one for The Firewatcher’s Daughter and six for By the Way, I Forgive You. Wikipedia
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band played their first gig in 1966 in Southern California as a jug band and by 1969 had become a cornerstone of the burgeoning country-rock community. Their career breakthrough came in 1970 with the release of the record Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy and the single “Mr. Bojangles,” a folksy Top 10 pop hit that remains a staple of their live show. During a tour stop in Nashville around that time, Earl Scruggs and his family came backstage to say hello. That introduction led to a friendship and some of the connections the band needed to record Will the Circle Be Unbroken. That three-disc album brought Nitty Gritty Dirt Band together with a number of country, folk, and bluegrass legends. Heroes like Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, Merle Travis, and Doc Watson joined the scruffy, young band to record country music standards such as “I Saw the Light” and “Keep on the Sunnyside.” The acclaimed project is considered a landmark recording in American music.
Michael Connelly is a titan of modern crime fiction, renowned for crafting intricate, gritty thrillers centered on iconic characters like LAPD Detective Harry Bosch and defense attorney Mickey Haller, evolving from a journalist’s keen eye for detail into a global bestselling author with over 90 million books sold, earning Edgar Awards, and successfully translating his complex legal and police procedurals into hit TV series like Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer, solidifying his place as a master storyteller of Los Angeles’ underbelly and justice system.
Born in Philadelphia in 1956, Michael Connelly’s path to literary stardom began not in fiction, but in the trenches of journalism, particularly covering crime for newspapers in Florida and then the Los Angeles Times. This front-line experience, interviewing cops and victims, observing the gritty realities of law enforcement, became the bedrock of his storytelling, lending unparalleled authenticity to his future novels. His breakthrough came in 1992 with The Black Echo, the debut novel featuring Harry Bosch, which immediately earned the prestigious Edgar Award for Best First Novel, signaling the arrival of a major new voice in mystery.
Connelly’s success transcends the printed page. He has become a prolific producer for television, overseeing the highly acclaimed Bosch series (Amazon Prime/Freevee) and The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix), which brought his beloved characters to vibrant life for a global audience. He also produced the television adaptation of his Renée Ballard novel, The Law of Innocence, and previously saw his novel Blood Work adapted into a film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.
With over forty novels, numerous awards (including the Grand Master title from the MWA), and a global readership, Michael Connelly remains a leading figure in crime fiction, continually reinventing his universe while staying true to the core themes of justice, redemption, and the relentless search for truth in a world that often hides it. His work offers readers thrilling plots, complex characters, and a deep dive into the heart of criminal investigation.
