Well, the Crime Writers' Association narrowly lost their first round match in University Challenge - the Professionals to a team from Prospect Magazine by 170 points to 180. But with only five first round matches it turned out that they had just done well enough to qualify for tonight's first semifinal, where they faced the impressive looking team from The Bodleian Library.Sadly it was no real contest. The Bod started well and stayed the course, running out the eventual winners by 295 points to 70. I reckon that they will be a difficult side for either Prospect Magazine or the Royal Statistical Society (who contest the second semifinal next Monday) to beat.
But I do hope that this is the start of a new trend. What literary festival wouldn't be livened up by a general knowledge quiz contested between genres, or publishers? How would a team of Virago authors do against a team from Viking? Would writers of science text books hold their own against poets?
Come on Rosie Boycott - you led a team from the Hay Festival on University Challenge last year - why not host an event yourself? Perhaps Penguin could put up a team including the editor of Fish, Fishing and the Meaning of Life.
And if any publisher wants to boost their chances by having me on their team, you know where to find my agent...
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2 comments:
I watched the Crime Writers in the semi final of UC with bated breath: at one point it looked as if they might be trounced, but in the end managed a creditable score against a team of librarians. However, I am selfish enough to be pleased that they didn't reach the high scoring achievement of the RNA last year. My engineering son says crime writing is like maths: it takes logic and intelligence, but writing romance takes real creativity (not sure if that's a compliment, really...)
I was torn about who to support - since I am occasionally seen doing library work. However, my money, if forced to bet, would always have been on the Bod.
Are you coming to Kelmarsh again this year Beau Bowden? In the Regency togs, I trust?
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