A look at Edge-lit with Holly Blades

Helloooo!

In two weeks time on September 7th I’ll be off to Edge-lit genre festival at The Quad in Derby. Edge-lit is one of my favourite conventions and I was so pleased that it had returned last year. Now reaching its tenth birthday I wanted to know a little more and I’m delighted that the event organiser Holly Blades was able to answer a few questions while also finishing off the convention planning.

Holly Blades is also a freelance journalist and copywriter having worked in everything from TV to music to pro-sport with everyone from Pythons to Scissor Sisters to Tour de France winners. She lives in Derby with her husband Matt Stephens and a library of Golden Era crime classics.

So what is Edgelit all about?

Edge-Lit is a one day genre fiction festival held in Derby at the cinema and arts space QUAD. It concentrates mainly on Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy although more recently has expanded into the darker side of Crime Fiction as so many horror authors are branching out (Sarah Pinborough, Catriona Ward etc). It's a fun little event that has kept its independent feel whilst still managing to attract some of the best names in the business.

As well as panels you have a lot of workshops? What do you do with this arm of the Programme?

One of Edge-Lit's big selling points are the workshops. Alex who used to run the event is a lecturer and really nurtured this part of the event. I've been very lucky in that the workshops are so popular that writers are contacting ME to ask to run them rather than it having to be the other way round. We've got 10 workshops this year including an epic one from SF author Chris Farnell who is going to try and lead a room full of people to write an entire Whodunnit in less than an hour and a half. To be honest, all of the workshops look amazing and as an aspiring writer myself (aren't we all?) I wish I had time to attend every single one!

There are a huge amount of guests for this year. Who can we look forward to seeing?

I'm very excited that we have Charlie Higson, Robin Ince and Isy Suttie attending – It's kind of accidentally become a 'Comedians who write horror' thing this year, so that crossover is going to be really interesting to discuss in some of the panels and Q&As. Last year there was Jeremy Dyson from the League of Gentlemen, so I think it's kind of become my 'thing' that I try and get the best of the current Horror/SF/Fantasy scene, but then also try and get a crossover 'mass appeal' guest to bring in those people who maybe think “I don't like Horror or SF or Fantasy” but then realise that they like The League of Gentlemen, or The Fast Show, or Peep Show, and are intrigued enough to come and learn more – and in doing so, maybe discover their next favourite book! We also have Sarah Pinborough attending. She's actually patron of Edge-Lit but her career has just skyrocketed in recent years so it's great to have her back and see how that's been for her.

How did you and Edge-Lit join forces?

I lived in Derby from around 2002 to 2011, and when I moved to Bradford-on-Avon just outside of Bath, I found myself living next to horror author Steve Volk. Anyone who's met him will know he's just one of the nicest men in the world and him and his wife quickly became firm friends of myself and my husband Matt. It’s funny how life turns out because I was obsessed with Ghostwatch when I was a kid! Steve introduced us to a lot of his other horror friends like Tim Lebbon and Mark Morris etc. When I heard there was a literary event in Derby that they all attended, it quickly became one of my favourite days of the year. I could go back to Derby and see all my old friends, but also go to Edge-Lit and see all my new Horror friends. Finally, in 2021, I moved back to Derby only to find that Alex was leaving QUAD and Edge-Lit was no more. In a moment of madness after several pints of lager, I emailed Adam the events manager at QUAD and offered to take it over. I'd never organised anything on this scale before but all of the Horror/SF scene were so supportive when I discussed it with them, I felt I could make it a success. Alex is still involved in an unofficial capacity, I always defer to his opinion and he’s a wealth of suggestions and advice.

What does a convention organizer actually do? How hard is it and what do you enjoy about it?

Ha! This is a tricky one at the moment because as the event gets nearer, it gets more stressful and I constantly question why I do it! It can get difficult especially because in holding the event at QUAD, I feel a responsibility to make it worth their while. They fund the hotel bookings, and clear their cinema schedule for the day, so I just really want to make sure that they make a profit which can make trying to source sponsorship or adverts for the brochure quite stressful. As far as what I actually do as a convention organiser, it involves lots of sending emails and chasing responses to those emails ad infinitum. I run Edge-Lit by myself (but the art and graphic design are done by two of my friends, Jen and Shaz) so it's basically a one woman show. I source the guests – be them friends from the circuit, or via publishers who have authors they want to send – and then I try and think which of those guests will work well together on a panel. That part of the process involves a LOT of post-it notes. Then I try and make a schedule of those panels where nobody is clashing and isn't in two places at once. That part of the process involves a LOT of swearing. There’s a lot of chatting with QUAD about which rooms they have available for the event and then deciding what is going to happen where. I obviously liaise a lot with the people running workshops and those who have booked tables in the Dealer's Room. Then it's the easier but time consuming stuff like creating the brochure and publicising the event. And finally the little things you never think about like finding volunteers for the day, sourcing raffle prizes, and the inevitable Amazon panic buying of goodie bags, name stickers, sharpies, bottles of water for the panellists etc. My enjoyment comes from getting to meet some great people, hopefully putting on a fun event for guests and ticket holders, and then finally that first pint at 6pm once everything is done! 

After Edge-Lit’s return last year and this year what key lessons would you pass on to anyone thinking about getting involved with a convention?

As an organiser? Patience is a virtue. There is a lot of emailing people saying “Have you had chance to look at my other email yet?” and a lot of people emailing you saying “I know I said I'd do this but actually can I do this instead?” You have to be quite versatile and able to adapt. You also need a network of people you can call on in a pinch. I'm so lucky to have the friends I do in the industry who want to see this event be a success as much as I do – I have people offering to host panels, or to conduct an interview, or asking if they can bring things for the raffle. It's like the saying goes, it takes a village.

If anyone wants to come, find out out more and get a ticket where do they need to go?

We have presence on social media – It's @edgelitderby on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) and Instagram, and we're on Facebook. We don't actually have an official website yet – that's something I'm going to look into in future – but people can buy tickets, and see the full schedule and guestlist on the QUAD website at https://www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/edgelit10/

The raffle…its has an interesting reputation doesn’t it?

Haha, yes it does. It's at the end of what is a very long day, and a lot of drink has been drunk. It can get a bit chaotic but it's part of the charm I think. A great send off to that year's event. We have the bonkers and lovely Sarah Pinborough and Conrad Williams hosting this year so it should be a belter. For those that find the raffle a little too shambolic, this year it runs alongside Chris's workshop that I mentioned previously, and a live recording of Jasper Bark and Kit Power's Ultimate Horror Anthology Podcast where they try and create the ultimate horror anthology book by getting esteemed guests to talk about their favourite horror short stories – So there's a few options for how to end your day at Edge-Lit.

If there was one book you wish you could get everyone to read, what would it be and why?

Oh my gosh, that's a hard one. I would normally say something like Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier as it's one of my favourite novels, but I think to lean more into the theme of Edge-Lit I will say Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo. It's a novella about a man who goes back to his hometown to find his father, and discovers a ghost town. A literal ghost town. It's sparse, strange and beautiful and introduced me to that magic realism side of Latin/South American literature that I'm now a little bit in love with. Which also reminds me to recommend The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares which is another odd and unsettling gem that you’ll be thinking about for months after. Is that cheating? They're both novellas so maybe I can get away with saying two novellas instead of one novel!