There was a wonderfully warm and energetic welcome from Jackie Collins and her team to the Crime Cymru panel of Gail (G B) Williams, Matt Johnson, Thorne Moore and Phil Rowlands at Newcastle Noir in Newcastle City library on Saturday 4th May.
We had a very respectable number at our afternoon session and the chats went well, kept gently on course and time by Gail, after an introduction from Jackie, whose generous parents had sponsored our visit. There were questions from the which could have kept us talking all afternoon if there had been time, but Newcastle Noir is bustling with events so alas we had to stop. But we did succeed in leaving our Crime Cymru bookmarks on every seat!
We all enjoyed a chance to attend some of the other sessions, including the evening spotlight on Gunnar Staalesen and John Harvey.
Being at NN2019 was a lot of fun for all of us, and for the audience too, we hope. We all felt that it was a positive step in the presentation of Crime Cymru to a wider world and that not only was a closer link with Newcastle Noir possible but that other joint events might work too. Maybe something for us to think about!
It certainly stimulated thoughts about the creation of our very own Crime Cymru Fest and the potential of attracting not only UK writers and organisations but also other countries that have an empathy, culture and linguistic crossover with Wales. Perhaps sharing an event might be a good first step. Who’s keen?
8th May 2019
Crime Cymru 