T213.
It’s a Crime! Genre Fiction’s Bad Rap (Sheet) in Academia's Mean Streets
Thursday, February 8, 2024
1:45 pm to 3:00 pm
Crime fiction has often struggled to be taken seriously in literature classes and creative writing workshops, even as the students themselves are avid fans of suspense, thrillers, true crime podcasts, and more. Professors who teach crime fiction as literature (class, race, and social justice as thematic cores) or use it as models for aspiring writers (plotting, pacing, getting readers to turn the page) explore the genre’s strengths for academia and offer tips on bringing it into the classroom.
Participants
Art Taylor is the Edgar Award-winning author of The Adventure of the Castle Thief and Other Expeditions and Indiscretions. His fiction has also won the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Awards. He is an associate professor and assistant director of the creative writing program at George Mason University.
Richie Narvaez is the author of two novels and two short story collections. He teaches crime fiction writing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan and received SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching in 2022.
Edwin Hill teaches creative writing and literature at Emerson College. He also served as the vice president and editorial director of Bedford/St. Martin's. He is the critically-acclaimed author of five novels and numerus short stories.
David Heska Wanbli Weiden is author of the novel Winter Counts (Ecco; S&S UK), winner of twelve awards and named a New York Times Editors' Choice, Indie Next Pick, and Book of the Month Club main selection. He is a MacDowell, Ucross, Ragdale, Sewanee, and Tin House fellow. davidweiden.com
