Peter Rozovsky of Detectives Beyond Borders is an all round fabulous guy who is a genuine delight to be around. This is what happens when you give this crime fiction loving art aficionado lots of gin and a picture frame.
Strike a pose!
Re-creating Carravaggio
Re-creating Andy Warhol
Re-creating Salvador Dali
Re-creating Michaelangelo
Re-creating The Scream – Edvard Munch
Re-creating Gustav Klimt
Enough already!!!
This weekend is CrimeFest 2016 and I’m super excited because it’s the first festival I’ve been able to attend this year, if you are there, come and find me and my LifeOfCri.me groupies in the bar for your exclusive photo opportunity!
It’s all go on the competition front this week. Today it’s the turn of the 2016 Flash Bang competition run by CrimeFest Bristol.
Can you commit a crime story in just 150 words?
‘A shot rang out’ is four words, but it packs a hell of a punch. Flash fiction is the art of surprise, illumination, punch.
Think short fuse, short-arm, Get Shorty. Did you know ‘flash in the pan’ originated with the priming of guns? And flashnotes are counterfeit notes… We could go on, but we won’t, because we’re big on brevity. Surprise us. Burn us. Write us. Whatever you do, do it in a flash.
Bang bang, you’re read.
It costs just £2 per entry and the first prize is a PAIR (yes a pair) of weekend passes to CrimeFest 2017 (access to all interviews, panels and receptions, exc. accommodation, dinner, travel) with runner up prizes of a single weekend pass to CrimeFest 2017, followed by a CrimeFest goodie bag. On top of all that, those on the shortlist will be invited to attend the Crime Writing Day on Friday 20 May 2016, when the winners will be announced.
Think you’re up for it? Why not give it a go, after all 150 words…… how hard can it be? 😉
Entries need to be submitted by 4th March 2016, and full details of prizes and how to enter can be found here
Have fun and Good Luck!
May is always a busy month for crime fiction fans, and 2015 is no exception, with not one, not two, but THREE festivals for crime fans to pick and choose between. Kicking of the month in fantastic style is Newcastle Noir, returning for its second year, the festival has expanded from one to two days in length, and has this week announced this cracking programme of events.
Saturday 2nd May
10-12noon | Writing Workshop with Christiana Gregoriou, Bea Davenport and Barbara Nadel.
11am-12pm Classic Crime Readings with Kay Hepplewhite
11am-1pm Murderous Newcastle Walking Tour with Pat Lowery, Newcastle City Guide. Begins at the Castle Keep, ends at the Lit & Phil. .
12.30-1.30pm Panel discussion: Northern Landscapes with authors Howard Linskey, Nick Quantrill and David Mark Craig Robertson, chaired by Luca Veste
2.30-3.30pm Panel discussion: Writers in Prison with Mari Hannah, Russ Litten and Alexandra Sokoloff, chaired by Louise Ridley
4.30-5.30pm Panel discussion: Award winning crime-writers Martyn Waites and Mark Billingham in conversation
6.30-7.30pm Panel discussion: From page to screen to page with Cilla and Rolf Börjlind, Erin Kelly and Christopher Brookmyre
8.30pm-9.30pm Panel discussion: Gangsters & Gangs with Philip J. Howard, David McCaffery and Steve Wraith, chaired by Charlotte Bilby
Sunday 3rd May
10-12noon Writing Workshop with Christiana Gregoriou, William Ryan, Bea Davenport and Barbara Nadel.11am-1pm Murderous Newcastle Walking Tour with Pat Lowery, Newcastle City Guide. Begins at the Castle Keep, ends at the Lit & Phil.
11.30am-12.30pm Panel discussion: Crime in Translation with Dominique Mannotti, Roz Schwartz and Ragnar Jónasson, chaired by Jacky Collins
1.30-2.30pm Victorian Villanies with Gail-Nina Anderson
3.30-4.30pm Panel discussion: Legal Eagles with Peter Murphy, Steve Cavanagh and Clare Donoghue, chaired by Ayo Onatade
5.30-6.30pm Panel discussion: Crime Authors/Creative writers with William Ryan, Bea Davenport and Barbara Nadel, chaired by M. J. MacGrath
7.30-8.30pm Panel discussion: New Blood with Eva Dolan, Kati Hiekkapelto and Susan Wilkins, chaired by Sarah Ward
Newcastle Noir is based at Newcastle’s Literary & Philosophical Society (The Lit & Phil) Britain’s largest independent library outside London, and celebrates the best in crime fiction.
Information on tickets and how to book your place can be found at http://www.litandphil.org.uk/events.shtml
Thanks to Iceland Noir for the heads up on what looks like a fabulous one day crime fiction festival coming to the south-east in March. Further information can now be found here:- dealnoir.wordpress.com
If you happen to be in the south-east (of England, that is, not the south-east of Iceland) in March, then check out Deal Noir, a small but beautifully crafted one-day crime fiction event taking place on the 28th of March in the coastal town of Deal, overlooking the Goodwin Sands.
It has been organised by those criminal stalwarts Susan Moody and Mike Linane, and the line-up for the day looks undeniably tasty.
It takes place at the Landmark Centre (click here for a map). Admission is £12 for the day, tea and coffee included.
The programme for the day looks like this:
10-10.50 The Dark Side
Mark Billingham, Tania Carver, Alex Marwood
11- 11:50 Freezing To Death
Mel McGrath, Michael Ridpath, Quentin Bates
moderator; William Horwood
12-12:50 Debate: A Woman’s Place in Crime Fiction is…
With Erin Kelly, Laura Wilson, Helen Giltrow, Louise Millar
moderator; Mel McGrath
Lunch Break
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Iceland Noir takes a break in 2015, and moves over to Shetland for the year.
Shetland Arts and Promote Shetland are delighted to announce that Shetland Noir, in association with Iceland Noir, will take place at Mareel from Friday 13 November until Sunday 15 November 2015.
The Crime Fiction Festival will be the first of its kind ever to be held in Shetland and the headliners will be: Denise Mina, Stuart MacBride and Alex Gray from Scotland, and Arne Dahl, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Hakan Nesser, representing the Nordic countries. Further writers will be announced in 2015.
The festival will be centred in Mareel, and a festival ticket, on sale now via Shetland Box Office, will ensure access to all of the panel events, and to a choice of fringe activities which will include specialist bus tours and other activities, to be announced in 2015. Further information about Shetland Noir, in association with Iceland Noir, is available on the festival website www.shetlandnoir.com and festival tickets can be purchased from Shetland Box Office in Mareel & Islesburgh, over the phone on 01595 745 555, and online at mareel.org and shetlandboxoffice.org.
Taking Place from the 15th – 18th May at the Marriott Royal Hotel, Bristol, UK.
With a whopping 50+ events (be prepared to make some tough decisions over what you attend) scheduled over the four days, it’s an action packed four days with plenty of time for author interaction.
It’s where I will be from Friday morning, until Sunday lunchtime. If you are heading there come look me up, if I’m not in a panel you’ll most probably find me in the bar. I’ll be the one in the hat. Come say hello.
Today Bloody Scotland has announced the launch of this years short story competition.
The winner will receive £1,000, a bottle of Deanston Distillery Malt whisky and a weekend pass to this years festival, to be held in Stirling from September 19th – 21st.
The winning story will also be published as an ebook short by Bloody Scotland.
We invite writers to from anywhere in the world to demonstrate their skill in short-story writing by entering a story, for a chance to win a brilliant prize and be recognised as an exciting emerging talent in the crime genre.
We’re seeking exceptional crime short stories based on the theme of ‘ESCAPE’.
Stories should be a maximum of 3,000 words and must be submitted by midnight on 31st July 2014. There is an entry fee of £10 to cover the administration of the competition.
A prestigious judging panel comprising representatives from the University of Stirling and crime writers Alex Gray, Craig Robertson and Gordon Brown, will judge the entries and announce a shortlist. This shortlist will then be open for a public vote on the Bloody Scotland website
Further information on entering, including additional details for non UK entries can be found here
Coming hot on the heels of CrimeFest and making sure you’ll be in the mood for Crime Story, it’s shaping up to be an A-May-zing May, with a second new Crime festival being announced in the last week, making for three weekends packed with all your crime fiction favourites.
Being launched as part of the larger Brighton Festival which runs from the 3rd to the 25th May, the Dark & Stormy Festival runs over three days from the 23rd to the 25th, and aims to bring you the best of all things crime related.
Dark & Stormy is a brand new UK crime festival, serving up a wicked selection of book, film, music & theatre events. We launch in May 2014, in partnership with Brighton Festival, Brighton Fringe, and Dukes at Komedia, to celebrate and promote this massively popular genre, bringing its fans, creators and stars together for one criminally good and unforgettable weekend.
Our aim is to appeal, not only to the legions of readers who keep crime writers at the top of the international bestseller lists, but also to the huge audiences who flock to watch The Killing and Breaking Bad on TV, Kick Ass and James Bond at the cinema, Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto on their PlayStations, and The Perfect Murder and Emil and the Detectives in the West End.
Sounds like another fantastic opportunity to celebrate crime fiction. So, grab your diaries and blot out this and the following weekends because there’s an unbelievable amount of criminal activity to be shared in.
CrimeFest – May 15th – 18th
Dark and Stormy – May 23rd – 25th
and
Crime Story – May 31st – June 1st.
Life of Cri.me 