Open University Offers Spring Seminar Series On Detective and Crime Fiction, Beginning February 21, 2017 @ThomGiddens @TheOpenUniversity

From Christiana Gregoriou, University of Leeds:

The Open University/Institute of English Studies Contemporary Culture of Writing Seminars have great pleasure inviting you to the Open University Contemporary Cultures of Writing spring seminar series (in collaboration with the Institute of English Studies).  This event is open to the public, and held at Senate House in Malet Street, London. There are two speakers at each event, and a Q and A session with free wine at the end. No need to book ahead, just turn up on the day and ask for directions at the reception desk.  The seminars run from 5.30-7.30 pm.  Detective and crime fiction has become increasingly popular over recent years. From its roots in the nineteenth century, this genre has grown in many directions and we now have several sub genres to choose from: such as hard-boiled, cosy, procedural, and domestic noir.
 This raises questions for the writer and the reader. How do crime novels reflect contemporary politics and culture? Have advances in psychology, neuroscience and digital technology changed the fictional landscape? Is there a gender divide in the type of crime fiction written by men and women? Who are the victims – and who are the perpetrators? Does the crime always have to be solved? 
 Seminar 1:  Tuesday 21 February 2017 ‘Crime Narrative Structures and Post Conflict Societies’ with Claire McGowan and Christiana Gregoriou Room: G34 Senate House
 Christiana Gregoriou is an English language lecturer at Leeds University’s School of English.  She is a specialist in crime fiction stylistics. Claire McGowan grew up in Northern Ireland and now teaches the UK's first MA in crime writing at City University London. She is the author of seven acclaimed crime novels set in Ireland.
 Seminar 2: 14 March 2017 ‘Contemporary Publishing and the influence of the Gothic in Crime Fiction’ with Graham Pike and Nicky Harlow. Room: 104, Senate House
 Graham Pike is Professor of Forensic Cognition at The Open University. His research uses knowledge about how the mind works to develop investigative techniques and technology. Graham is co-writing a new book, Mad or Bad, out this year. Nicky Harlow is a published novelist living in West Yorkshire. She is an Associate Lecturer in Creative writing at the Open University, where she is also studying for a PhD in Creative Writing. Her research interest lies in the rendering of setting and imagery in contemporary crime thrillers.
 Seminar 3:  21 March 2017 ‘Financial Crime in Fiction, Forensic Cognition and the Insistent Voices of the Dead’ with Joanne Reardon Lloyd and Christina Philippou. Room: G34, Senate House
 Christina Philippou is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, teaching and researching in the areas of forensic accounting and financial crime.. Her debut contemporary fiction novel, Lost in Static, was published in September 2016. Joanne Reardon Lloyd is a Lecturer in Creative Writing for the Open University. Her fiction and drama has been produced on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines and anthologies including The London Magazine and the Cinnamon Short Story Prize .
 http://www.open.ac.uk/arts/research/contemporary-cultures-of-writing/events/rise-detective-novel 
 For more information contact sally.oreilly@open.ac.uk  or Nicky Harlow on  nah228@open.ac.uk.  The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).