He is one of the most important characters in the history of crime fiction, and next year his creator will become a professor at the University of East Anglia.

Ian Rankin will next year mark the 30th anniversary of the debut of Detective Inspector John Rebus, who first entered the annuals of literature when Knots & Crosses was published in 1987.

As part of a year of events to mark the anniversary, the novelist will join the UEA as a Unesco City of Literature Visiting Professor in September 2016.

The visiting Unesco professorships bring leading authors of international reputation to the university to engage with UEA's renowned creative writing programmes.

During his time on the campus during the autumn semester, Mr Rankin will contribute to seminars, lectures, and tutorials.

In September, he will also feature at the third annual 'Noirwich' Crime Writing Festival, a collaboration between UEA, Writers' Centre Norwich and Dead Good Books.

He said: 'I was still a full-time student when I wrote Inspector Rebus's first adventure. That was in 1984-85 and Edinburgh University didn't have a Creative Writing course.

'Almost no university did - and I remember being jealous of Ian McEwan and others who had learned from their experiences at the University of East Anglia.

'That's why it is such a privilege and honour to accept UEA's offer of a visiting professorship. I hope to learn, share, and teach, because as a writer you should never stop trying to hone your craft.'

Henry Sutton, senior lecturer in creative writing at UEA and co-director of UEA's MA in Prose Fiction, said: 'We are thrilled to be welcoming Ian Rankin to UEA.

'His extraordinary experience and expertise as a writer of contemporary fiction will be invaluable to our current students, from undergraduates to those studying for PhDs.

'Ian will also be involved in UEA's new Crime Fiction MA - the crime fiction genre being an area of increasing expertise at the university.'

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