Spies like us: Festival asks if Bond is a hero or simply a killer for hire?

That’s why spy and espionage fiction has had countless millions of readers turning up a raincoat collar, watching people over the top of a newspaper, and fantasising about “secret” meetings on benches in London parks for more than a century.

The genre has yielded some of our best-loved authors and stories that translate brilliantly to big and small screens. From John Buchan to Graham Greene, from Ian Fleming to John Le Carre, from Helen MacInnes to Eric Ambler to Len Deighton and Frederick Forsyth… the desire to open that Top Secret file and bring out a teeny camera has never abated.

The genre is moving on with changes in espionage technology and perhaps more than any other, spy authors have come out from behind that cloak of secrecy to share experiences, albeit fictionalised.

It was a talk by a modern day spy novelist, who just happened to be former head of MI5, that inspired Edinburgh Spy Week, the week-long event organised by three dedicated academics at the University of Edinburgh, that examines not only spy fiction but the history of spying, real life espionage and how the genre has seen crossover with detective and science fiction.

That was six years ago and as Professor Penny Fielding says it wasn’t seen as launching a literary festival. “We had invited Stella Rimington to give a talk, as she is an alumna of the University of Edinburgh and specifically of the English department. She's obviously the former head of MI5 but had also become a novelist and has written a series of spy novels around the Liz Carlyle character. It was incredibly popular, so we decided to programme a few smaller events around it. Espionage writer Charles Cumming also studied here so we invited him to attend, and we had events featuring my colleagues in the English department, looking at the history of spy fiction.

“That first week also started our association with the Filmhouse and the parallel spy film programming.”

Edinburgh Spy Week has grown since then, but only at a rate that the team of three organisers can handle along with their everyday faculty work.

This year, the festival runs from Friday, April 5 to April 12 and although there is a varied programme there is a theme running through the film programme and in a couple of events – and one that could prove controversial among the espionage aficionados. Bond. James Bond.

There has always been a debate about the Fleming’s saucy, thirsty Commander. Is he a spy or simply a killer for hire?

“We have avoided Bond up until now but if there is a debate to be had about the character in all his facets on the page and on screen, where better to have it than here.”

This is our biggest film season at the Filmhouse, and now that we have decided to embrace Bond, we’ve just really gone for it.”

This high-profile Bond event is the appearance of Anthony Horovitz, who has written a prequel to Fleming’s Casino Royale, called Forever and a Day.

Previous years have had author themes, such as the work of Graham Greene, and special events looking at Scotland and spy fiction but increasingly the organisers are keen to explore the crossover in genres.

“Last year our most popular event was Spies v Detectives, so we’re running it again and this year have Val McDermid on board. We’re careful to only have one detective event a year and not to tread too far into Bloody Scotland’s territory,” adds Penny Fielding.

The link between spy and science fiction is explored in Speculative Secrecy, with the increasing dependence on surveillance technology and cyber espionage.

“We also like to strike a balance between contemporary writing and the history of spying and this year we have Nadine Akkerman looking at seventeenth-century spies in Invisible Spies.”

There is a balance to be struck between the accessibility of a genre-based book festival and the academic discussion around the area of spy fiction but also the history of espionage.

“Most of the spy novelists who come up for Spy Week say that it’s a unique event. They appear at crime fiction festivals, but this lets them have a space of their own. I think that we're pretty much the only event that concentrates solely on espionage.”

Penny also believes that the Fiction and Espionage course might be the only opportunity to study by fiction as an undergraduate in the UK.

“This is the first year that the course has run so we are showcasing some of the students’ work to start the week. The students have also made podcasts for the Spybrary website, where they interview our Spy Week alumni.”

There is a myth that only ex-spies can write believable espionage but Penny Fielding believes that’s not at all the case citing the likes of Mick Herron, who she says could be the most important contemporary writer in the field.

“Of course a lot of the most famous authors have worked within espionage, Le Carre and Fleming being the most famous, but many didn't. I think it's probably true that more spy novelist that have been spies, than detective novelist who have been detectives though.”

Edinburgh Spy Week offers events early evening, when the good folk of the city are leaving work and can enjoy before they go home.

“It is mainly aimed at the people of Edinburgh I suppose. I know some people would like us to squeeze a lot of events into one weekend, but trying to shoehorn everything into two or three days means nothing has space to breathe and it’s too much work for the three of us on top of our academic workload.

“The whole event runs on a shoestring and we do everything we can to keep most of the events free. The free events take place in the university itself, but also at Blackwell’s Bookshop and at the National Library of Scotland. This is complemented by the season at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse, the only events where there’s a charge.

“I think it's grown into the size that we can manage at the moment. I would like it to grow into something, not necessarily bigger, but where we could attract a much wider range of people and perhaps charge for more events.”

As far as subject matter goes, there’s no exhausting the genre that has changed and developed alongside the real-life services it reflects and in many cases romanticises. From spying to foil the Nazis through the Cold War (still the golden years for many spy fiction lovers) to contemporary espionage and modern counterintelligence, there will always be a place for the man or woman in the shadows. And for that week in April Edinburgh Spy Week will offer fans of the genre a chance to come in from the cold.

Edinburgh Spy Week takes place at venues throughout the city from April 5 to 12. All events (apart from those at The Filmhouse) are free but must be booked to avoid disappointment, For more information visit www.spyweek.ed.ac.uk