Literary Birthday – 17 March – Peter Robinson

Peter Robinson was born on 17 March 1950 and died on 4 October 2022.

Peter Robinson Quotes

1. I used to write my own versions of famous tales, such as William Tell or Robin Hood, and illustrate them myself, too. When I entered my teens, I got more into horror and science fiction and wrote a lot of short stories. A literary education complicated things and for many years I wrote nothing but poetry. Then I got back to story-telling.
2. I usually write from about 8.30am to late afternoon. The more days in a row, the better.
3. Put your bum on the chair and your fingers on the keyboard. …read widely, too. When my students fail it’s usually nothing to do with lack of talent but everything to do with lack of application. So many people want to be writers, but few actually want to write!
4. I think writers have to be able to enjoy solitude rather than just endure it. I’ve always enjoyed being left alone with my imagination, ever since I was a kid.
5. I like newspaper stories that are incomplete, that give me room to imagine the rest. It’s no good to me reading about something that’s all neatly solved and wrapped up. That’s why so many of my stories revolve around human psychology, around why someone commits a certain crime, or series of crimes. I don’t profess to know the answers but I like to explore the possibilities.

Peter Robinson was an award-winning Canadian crime writer who was born in Britain. He was best known for his crime novels set in Yorkshire featuring Inspector Alan Banks. The first book in the series was Gallows View. It was short-listed for the John Creasey Award in the UK and the Crime Writers of Canada best first novel award. The fifth Inspector Banks novel, Past Reason Hated, won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel in 1992. In 2002, Robinson was awarded the “Dagger in the Library” by the CWA. In 2020, Robinson received the Grand Master Award from Crime Writers of Canada. He wrote 25 books.

Source for Image: InspectorBanks.com (used with permission)

by Amanda Patterson

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