I’m joining Richie Narvaez, Edwin Hill, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden on a panel about teaching crime fiction at this year’s AWP Conference in Kansas City. “It’s a Crime! Genre Fiction’s Bad Rap (Sheet) in Academia’s Mean Streets” will take place on Thursday, February 8, at 1:45 p.m. in Room 3501AB of the Kansas City Convention Center (Level 3).
Here’s the write-up:
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.
For more information, and a brief panel outline, check out the event description at the AWP site.
I’ll also be hanging out some at the George Mason University/Watershed Lit booth—and thrilled with some of the other Mason faculty and alums who are part of the event line-up as well, including the other panel on crime fiction! Check out that information here.
See you in Kansas City!