We were very fortunate to run a number of creative writing workshops during the Smithdown Litfest 2024 with academic staff from Liverpool John Moores University.
Crime Fiction Writing Seminar: Everything you wanted to ask the experts about writing crime fiction.
Have you ever wondered what the police think about crime fiction and how their experiences compare to the fictional narratives on TV crime shows or in novels? And how important is authenticity in crime writing anyway? What do you struggle with in your own writing and where do you research all the necessary information about crime scenes and police procedures?
Writers joined academics from LJMU to hear about policing, crime scenes, common crime fiction tropes and styles and what you can do to enhance your crime writing.
Catherine Cole is a Visiting Professor at Liverpool John Moores University where she was formerly Associate Dean, Research and Professor of Creative Writing and a member of the university’s Board of Governors. She is also an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Wollongong in Australia. She has published 11 books including crime fiction, non-fiction, short stories and memoir. Her poetry, stories, essays and reviews have been published in Australia and internationally and produced by BBC Radio 4.
Former Scotland Yard detective, Adrian James, is the Research Director for the Centre for Advanced Police Studies, Liverpool John Moores University, UK. He is a Reader in Police Studies. Awarded his doctorate by the London School of Economics for a study into the origins and development of intelligence-led policing, Adrian has published extensively on investigative policy and practice. He maintains strong links with the policing institution through his research and consultancy work. In recent years, he has competed: a study into ‘what works’ in police intelligence practice for the UK’s College of Policing; an evaluation of the UK’s financial investigation processes for the Home Office; and evaluations of detective recruitment and training for the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Currently, he is investigating detective performance across five police forces in England and also researching the changing nature of serious and organised crime, with police practitioners and academics in the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
Heather Panter is a retired American police detective with 2,000 hours of police specific training and a combined 13 years of law enforcement experience. As a senior lecturer, she is the programme leader of LJMU’s MSc Policing and Criminal Investigations and the module leader on the following graduate modules: “Advanced Investigative Skills”, “Forensic and Medicolegal Death Investigations”, and “Drugs: Recognition and Identification”. She created and oversees LJMU’s policing studies crime scene science area where students and staff have a multidisciplinary learning space to conduct “mock” crime scene exercises/ research studies.
Writers’ Secrets: How Two Writers Overcame Barriers to Completing Their Books
Writers joined Catherine Cole and Jenny Newman for this unique writing workshop as part of the Smithdown Litfest.
This session was all about becoming a writer and sustaining your writing practice, how to write, what write and what skills and techniques to use. Jenny and Catherine talked about their books – and also offered tips all the way through the talk on overcoming any problems with character, dialogue, place and narrative drive. This was followed by some time for audience questions.
Catherine Cole is a Visiting Professor at Liverpool John Moores University where she was formerly Associate Dean, Research and Professor of Creative Writing and a member of the university’s Board of Governors. She is also an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Wollongong in Australia. She has published 11 books including crime fiction, non-fiction, short stories and memoir. Her poetry, stories, essays and reviews have been published in Australia and internationally and produced by BBC Radio 4.
Jenny Newman has been writing for over thirty years, usually fitting it in around a busy teaching life, and was formerly head of the Creative Writing department at Liverpool John Moores University. She has written two novels and non-fiction. Her short fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in, among other places, The London Magazine and Riptide. Her new novel, In the Blood, will be published in September 2024.