Real Crime, Real Fiction

Does the consumption of crime novels influence the way we read about real crime? Where does ‘true crime’, which takes its inspiration from actual events rather than mere imagination, fit in?  In this panel discussion, writers, curators and journalists explore the impact of real-life crimes on the writing and production of crime fiction, both on television and in print.  

Joining our host, writer and journalist Barry Forshaw, will be authors Laura Wilson and Mark Billingham, alongside screenwriter Nick Dear and Carla Connolly, curator at St Bartholomew’s Pathology Museum.

Barry Forshaw’s books include British Crime Film and Death in a Cold Climate: A Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction. Other works include: British Gothic Cinema, Nordic Noir, British Crime Writing, The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction and Italian Cinema. He writes for various newspapers and magazines and edits Crime Time (www.crimetime.co.uk).

Laura Wilson was brought up in London and lives in Islington, where she is currently working on her eleventh novel.  She is the crime fiction reviewer for the Guardian and writes a ‘Crime Fiction Masterclass’ column for Mslexia magazine. She is the award-winning creator of D.I. Ted Stratton.

Mark Billingham is one of the UK’s most acclaimed and popular crime writers. His series of novels featuring D.I. Tom Thorne has twice won him the Crime Novel Of The Year Award and been nominated for seven CWA Daggers. His standalone thriller In the Dark was chosen as one of the twelve best books of the year by the Times and his debut novel, Sleepyhead was chosen by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 books that had shaped the decade and was one of the titles chosen to be given away on this year’s World Book Night. A television series based on the Thorne novels was screened in Autumn 2010, starring David Morrissey as Tom Thorne and a series based on In The Dark is in development with the BBC.

Nick Dear is a BAFTA winning writer of stage, screen and radio.  He recently adapted the highly acclaimed Frankenstein at the National Theatre, in a production directed by Danny Boyle. Among his screenplays are adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Poirot staring David Suchet.

Carla Connolly is a technician and assistant curator at the Pathology Museum at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.  The museum was purpose-built in 1879 and covers all areas of anatomy and physiology.  As a trained APT (Anatomical Pathology Technologist), Carla has consulted with art directors to ensure realism of death scenes, murders and post-mortem reports in stage and television productions.