Crime Writing: Upcoming free event
An open brainstorming session on 21st Century Detective Fiction
6.00pm, Saturday 3rd December 2016, Rye Bookshop
The Reverend Ronald Knox wrote his famous Ten Commandments of detective fiction in 1929:
"No ghosts, no secret passages, no identical twins and no Chinamen.
No hidden clues, no last minute criminal arrivals, no obscure science or
poisons. No murderous detectives. No dissembling assistants."
The golden age of detective fiction - Agatha Christie, Josephine
Tey, Dorothy L Sayers and Margery Allingham - followed his rules, most
of the time, for very good reason.
Do these rules still work almost 90 years later? We live in a different world of DNA testing, mobile phones and the internet.
Should they be updated to reflect modern times? Do they still retain some element of literary merit?
Next Saturday, 3rd December at the Rye Bookshop, Maddy Coelho and
Paul Youlten, better known as MP Peacock, author of Murder on the Strike
of Five, (for details see September Newsletter below dated 25 August) will be leading the investigation into 'Should we rewrite the
rules of detective fiction?'
Come and help draft the new commandments.
Former Headmaster in the Art Gallery with the Book
Smarden Art Gallery on Thursday 15th December, 6-8 p.m.
Jonty Driver will be reading from and answering questions about his new book, SOME SCHOOLS (available from the Rye Bookshop). There will be drinks and small eats, and a chance to see what is available in the gallery too.
Former Headmaster in the Art Gallery with the Book
Smarden Art Gallery on Thursday 15th December, 6-8 p.m.
Jonty Driver will be reading from and answering questions about his new book, SOME SCHOOLS (available from the Rye Bookshop). There will be drinks and small eats, and a chance to see what is available in the gallery too.
Short Stories: At its last meeting the Book Group had a lively discussion about the short story genre. We discussed two short stories by Katherine Mansfield, introduced by Gill Southgate. By chance, there was an article by Elizabeth Day on writing short stories, in the Daily Telegraph last week, prompted by the recent death of a master of the short story, William Trevor. Here is a link to the start of the article, and if you want to read the rest I can send you a cutting, kindly provided by Alan McKinna: CLICK HERE
Comic Writing: There's another interesting piece on a different literary topic, namely the work of P G Wodehouse, in the Daily Telegraph of 29 November. This was prompted by the news that Wodehouse's literary archive has been acquired by the British Library, with the implications for the rehabilitation of this perhaps under-rated and unfairly demonised author. CLICK HERE to read the whole article.
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