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Traitors star hails university course for success

Neve Gordon-Farleighand
Alex Dunlop,in Cambridge
News imageAlex Dunlop/BBC Harriet Tyce, a woman with blonde hair standing inside a room with grey walls. She is wearing a blue outfit and is looking directly at the camera and smiling.Alex Dunlop/BBC
Harriet Tyce says she has seen a boost in book sales and reached a wider audience since appearing on the most recent series of the Traitors

The Traitors contestant Harriet Tyce has credited a university's creative writing course for helping her write her debut novel.

The criminal barrister-turned crime author was seen sniffing out the villains on BBC One's latest series.

She wrote Blood Orange while studying part-time for her master's degree in creative writing at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich in 2017.

Her book sales spiked after her TV appearance and she said she was "very grateful" for the boost it had given her career.

The UEA's creative writing course ranks in the top 10 of recent university league tables.

"Some creative writing courses can be quite snobby about what they consider to be genre-commercial fiction," explained Tyce, who said at times she considered moving away from crime to be a more "serious author".

"To see a university like UEA... saying crime fiction was worth serious academic study, it didn't take the fun out of it, it didn't make it less readable - it was still something with intellectual depth."

News imageBBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry Harriet Tyce - second from the right - with blonde hair, sitting at a roundtable discussion during filming of the Traitors.BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry
Tyce said she much preferred the book world over her time being on TV

The author managed to keep her professional life under wraps during the series, which she described as an "irresistible opportunity" to take part in a "truly immersive murder mystery".

"On a professional basis, it has been a super-charge, I can't lie," said Tyce, speaking to the BBC at the Cambridge Literary Festival.

She feared taking part in the reality show could have been a "desperate gamble" and been more damaging for book sales.

"I'm in my 50s now; the idea there are still new experiences to be had particularly professionally in my career, rather than winding down... it's brilliant.

"I am very grateful."

News imageAlex Dunlop/BBC Harriet Tyce sitting down at a table during a book signing event for her latest novel, Witch Trial. The book, coloured blue and red, is in the foreground.Alex Dunlop/BBC
There was a time when Tyce said she moved away from crime in order to be a "serious author"

Despite her TV experience, she said she much preferred the book world.

"I love writing books and I love the book world," she said.

"I am back in the place where I am happiest being now."

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