Bunch Of Fives: Newcastle Noir

Newcastle Noir brings another jam-packed programme of crime writing to the city for its tenth year. The festival, which takes place primarily at and in partnership with Newcastle Library, is a four-day event (4th-7th December) and welcomes over 40 authors to the city to talk about their work across various panel events.

There will also be an opportunity to buy books and get them signed by the author at the end of every session, thanks to Forum Books, who, once again, will be supporting the festival.

Tickets for Newcastle Noir are £5 for each individual event and £50 for the whole festival, which are available here.

Ahead of the event, festival organiser Jacky Collins, tells us about some of the highlights with a bunch of fives…

Over the years at Newcastle Noir, we have had some amazing panels and workshops, and we have heard from authors – local, national and international. We’ve had some avid crime fiction readers attend throughout and we’ve been blessed with an amazing group of volunteers – the Noir Stars. So, as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Newcastle Noir this year, as Dr Noir (Festival Organiser), I wanted to talk about five special highlights from this year’s programme.

1. Truth or Lies – Logic Puzzles 
Last year we first introduced fun Wednesdays at Newcastle Noir. We opened the event by indulging in the latest craze to hit the crime fiction world at the time – Murdle. We were very grateful to the publishers for providing us with free examples of the mysteries to be solved. Much laughter was had, as many of us struggled with the more taxing mysteries. But a Newcastle Noir regular, Steven Jenkins, had soon solved everything. It was at that point someone revealed that Steve was a puzzle expert, with a series of his own mysteries to solve. So, this year, we’re going to be challenged by him. I know we’re going to have fabulous fun together. Thank you, Steve!

2. Real Life Writer Chats
An integral part of any literary festival is to hear authors speak individually or on a panel about their latest publication.  In addition to such sessions at NN2024, we have an intimate, behind-the-scenes event where author Kitty Murphy will be getting other authors to peel back the layers on their process to offer would-be authors the unfiltered version of the challenges and difficulties that form part of producing that finished manuscript. I’m excited that this event will also be shown on Insta Live on the Newcastle Noir Instagram stories and on Kitty’s Instagram stories, making it accessible to those who cannot be there in person.

3. Tariq Ashkanani proof launch
This is another first for the festival as we host a book-proof launch for author Tariq Ashkanani. This is a wonderful opportunity for people to gather in the iconic Tyneside Cinema Coffee Rooms to hear about his latest novel and acquire a proof copy before publication. What I like most about the repercussions of such an event is that those attending, armed with their free copy of Midnight King, will be able to spread the word about this soon-to-be-published novel, alerting fellow crime fiction readers on social media and beyond, so they can keep an eye out for publication date and add this novel to their TBR list.

4. It Takes Two – Johana Gustawsson & Thomas Enger
I’m proud and excited about the entire NN2024 programme. However, if I had to choose one panel to highlight, it would be this one – a first for Newcastle Noir, with two authors writing a book together. Let me explain why, because there are several reasons. Firstly, both authors could be said to write Nordic Noir, which is Doctor Noir’s favourite crime genre. Then, they are both highly acclaimed, international bestselling writers. Also, they are both published in the UK by Orenda Books, which specialises in excellent crime fiction in translation. I am intrigued to see what writing together has meant for them and what’s the result of this wonderful collaboration.

5. NN2024 – Northeast Authors
My final pick would be the northeast authors appearing at the festival this year, many of whom have supported Newcastle Noir since its inception. We are so lucky to have such an amazing array of crime writers who base their novels in the region (and sometimes outside). This impressive collective body of work has drawn the national and international crime-reading public’s attention to the places we call home. Many thanks to Ann Cleeves, Mari Hannah, Trevor Wood, Robert Rutherford (aka Robert Scragg), Fiona Veitch Smith, Fiona Erskine, Nicky Black, Marrisse Whittaker and Oskar Jensen for all your invaluable help and support.