Crime Fiction Writing Seminar

Calling all crime writers. 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?

Join 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.

Carol Cox is a former police officer and now heads up higher education’s most successful unit for higher skills in policing in England, the Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies (LCAPS), part of LJMU’s School of Justice Studies and a model nationally, praised by chief constables and officers alike.

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.

Event supported by the Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History, Faculty of Arts, Professional and Social Studies at Liverpool John Moores University.

Host or Publisher Smithdown Litfest