Workshop Workshop Workshop

Well now. That aul' saying about waiting for a bus all day and two come along at once seems to apply here.

Tonight I start my eight-week crime fiction course at The Duncairn in Belfast. Really looking forward to getting stuck in. I always find that teaching makes me more energetic when it comes to my own writing, and the book I've been trying to finish for the last few weeks could do with a wee boost.

But here, there's more (hence the two busses thing). You know that Noireland thing I was telling you about in the last post? That crime fiction convention you've been hearing loads about on Facebook and Twitter and all? Well, they've recently announce an addition to the programme. A day full of writing workshops! And I'm part of that. Here's what it says on the Noireland website:

Friday 27th October, 10:00-13:00  

A NOVEL IN THREE ACTS

Gerard Brennan will begin the day by introducing you to some of the fundamentals of writing a crime novel. From plotting, writing a crime character and then on to creating a three act structure for your novel.

Gerard Brennan recently earned his PhD in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast. His publishing credits include Undercover (2014), Wee Rockets (2012) and The Point (2011); winner of the Spinetingler Award for Best Novella in 2012.

Snazzy, right?

And the super-talented Claire McGowan is taking the afternoon shift:

14:00-17:00  

TAKING THINGS A STEP FURTHER

Now that you've gotten to grips with the basics, Claire McGowan will talk in more detail about character, viewpoint and dialogue. She’ll address how you create suspense in your novel and what to think about when writing a crime series.

Alongside a successful career as a novelist Claire McGowan runs an MA in creative writing at London’s City University. She regularly gives workshops and talks at festivals and has taught in the Guardian Masterclass series.

How cool is that? Go register for it. Now.

Conference on the Territorialisation of Crime fiction, Queen’s University, Belfast

International Conference on the Territorialisation of Crime fiction

INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION RESEARCH GROUP

Queen’s University, Belfast, 13-14^th June 2014

The global and the local in contemporary world crime fiction

Circulation and exchanges

Friday 13^th June 2014

9:00-9:30 Old Staff Common Room, Lanyon Building, Welcome address from Professor Margaret Topping, School of Modern Languages, Introduction

9:30-11:00 Maps and Regions in Crime fiction

Eva Erdmann (Munich) “Topographical fiction in relation.
International Crime Scenes in Literature and their cartographic Representation”

Christoph Baumann (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg) “Geographies of crime – Regionalization in German crime series “

11:00-11: 30 COFFEE

11: 30-13:00 The Politics of Place

Benoît Tadié (Rennes University) “All Roads Lead to Hollywood... And the Pause That Refreshes:
Re-routing and Territorializing Hardboiled/Noir fiction in Los Angeles (1930-1950)”

Andrew Pepper ( QUB) “Sovereign Power in an era of Neoliberalism:
State Coercion and Parapolitics in David Peace and Eoin McNamee”

13:00-14:00 LUNCH, QFT Foyer, 20 University Square

14:00-15:30 Old Staff Common Room Patrimonialisation and Globalisation of the local

Kerstin Bergmann, (University of Lund) “Europeanization and Regionalism in 21st Century Swedish Crime Fiction?”

Gabrielle Saumon (University of Limoges) “From crime fiction to the making of a touristic place.
Ystad, Stockholm: two investigations”

15:30-15:45 COFFEE

15:45-17:30 Ireland of Crime

Samantha Weyer-Brown (University Paris 3) “Landscape, territories and 'ghost estates' in Tana French, Broken Harbour”.

Fiona McCann (University Lille 3) “Authority, Permeability and the State of the State in
Eoin McNamee’s Blue trilogy and The Ultras”

Garrett Carr (QUB) “The Map of Connections, illustrated talk”

19:00 No Alibis Bookstore, Botanic Avenue, Reading and questions with invited authors Eoin McNamee and Brian McGilloway

21:00 CONFERENCE DINNER Mourne Seafood, 34- 36 Bank Street, Belfast, BT1 1HL

Saturday 14th June 2014

9:30-11:15 Seminar Room, 21 University Square From Close Reading to Data Visualisation: varying Focalisation in Approaches to Crime Regionalization

Dominique Jeannerod (QUB) “Northern Scenery and Mise-en scène of the Genre in French Crime Fiction”

Jean-Philippe Gury (Université de Bretagne Occidentale) “Blue Guide of Crime: Welcome to Brittany!”

Natacha Levet (University of Limoges) “Building a database for Mapping Regional Crime Fiction in France”

11:15-11:30 COFFEE

11:30-13:00 Negotiating the American Model domestically and globally

Barbara Pezzotti (Wellington) “Giorgio Scerbanenco's Milan and the Domestication of the American Hard-Boiled Novel”

Andrea Hynynen, (University of Turku) “A Feminism too foreign for France? – necessary change of Territory
in the case of Maud Tabachnik’s Feminist Crime Fiction”

13:00-14:00 LUNCH, QFT Foyer, 20 University Square

14:00-15:45 Seminar Room, 21 University Square Localisation and Globalisation

Kate Quinn (University of Galway) “Beyond Chilenidad.
Transatlantic crossings and local inflection in Chilean Crime Fiction”

David Schmid (University of Bufffalo) “City, State, and Globe in the Crime Novels of Paco Ignacio Taibo II”

David Platten (Leeds) “Crossing Bridges: Crime Stories as International Currency”