Chosen as new voice of theatre

A retired Catholic school headteacher, whose historical thriller Another Small Kingdom was recently published by Accent Press Ltd, has been chosen as one of only 50 international writers to take part in a major writing project.

James Green, 68, of Newark, was selected from 630 writers who submitted a 500-word play to help Edinburgh’s award-winning Traverse Theatre mark its 50th anniversary with Traverse Fifty — a scheme to find exciting new theatrical voices to carry the theatre into the future.

James’s winning play, Moving Target, which takes a surreal look into the shape of things to come for rail travellers, was performed along with the other 49 works on January 26.

He will now spend a year-long attachment to Traverse, taking part in a series of tailor-made writing events, including panel discussions and workshops. These will culminate in a new writing festival in the autumn.

James said: “To be chosen as the only writer from the East Midlands in an international list of writers was a great surprise. I am delighted to be able to play a part in Traverse Theatre’s 50th anniversary project.”

He is well-known as the author of the Jimmy Costello crime series for which he was shortlisted for a Crime Writer’s Association John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger award. The series includes Bad Catholics, Stealing God and Yesterday’s Sins.

Last year the author signed a five-book deal to write a series of historical espionage thrillers based on the history and development of the American Secret Service from the start of the 19th Century.

The first, Another Small Kingdom, was published in August.

His next novel, A Union Not Blessed, will be released in April and deals with the attempt by Vice-resident Aaron Burr to create his own kingdom in Ohio and Mississippi.

Other forthcoming titles in the series are The Eagle Turns in August, Never An Empire in April 2014 and Winston’s Witch in August 2015.