Curtis Brown Creative and Orion team up for a Crime Writing Weekend

July 13, 2012

We’re excited to announce Curtis Brown Creative’s new partnership with Orion to run a crime writing course. The course will be a collaboration between our creative writing school, and Orion’s major new digital publishing initiative, The Murder Room, which will be launched in September.

The course will be held at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London, on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th November 2012. 30 new crime-writers (selected on the strength of work submitted) will take part in teaching sessions with the two tutors, Curtis Brown’s crime-novelist client Meg Gardiner and Orion’s author Harry Bingham. The weekend will feature a special guest talk from best-selling author Steve Mosby, and a group discussion with Orion’s Deputy Publishing Director Bill Massey and our own literary agent Gordon Wise.

The students will be divided into two groups of 15 for morning teaching sessions with Meg Gardiner and Harry Bingham, to include guidance on key issues for writing crime novels, and practical writing exercises , many based around the students’ novels-in-progress.

On the afternoon of Saturday 10th there will be a special talk from guest author Steve Mosby, whose book Black Flowers, published by Orion, has just been shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2012, and who has also been shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association Dagger In the Library Award 2012 for his full body of work.

On Sunday 11th in the afternoon, Bill Massey and Gordon Wise, agent for major crime author and TV writer Neil Cross, the creator of Luther, will draw on their industry expertise to talk to the students about publishing crime novels. They will also give direct feedback to students on the openings of their novels-in-progress.

Curtis Brown Creative launched last year and has run three highly successful courses for debut novelists. The Crime Writing Weekend is our first partnership with a publisher.

Anna Davis, Director of Curtis Brown Creative said: “We’re thrilled to be offering this dynamic course with Orion, the market-leaders in crime fiction...  The weekend will benefit hugely from their expertise in publishing new and established crime writers...”

The Murder Room website launches in September as Orion’s online community for readers of crime fiction. From the Golden Age detective novel to best of noir and espionage fiction, The Murder Room will publish hundreds of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles in ebook for the first time.

Julia Silk, Editor of The Murder Room said: “Just as we hope that the Murder Room will inspire a new generation of crime readers, we know that our collaboration with Curtis Brown Creative will be a fantastic way to encourage new crime writers. The agency has always been at the forefront of discovering and nurturing talent, and we are delighted to be their partner for the Crime Writing Weekend.”

To find out more about our Crime Writing Weekend and to apply for a place on the course, go to www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk

To find out more about The Murder Room go to www.themurderroom.com

To find out more about Orion’s crime list, go to www.orionbooks.co.uk