Call for Papers: Monograph on the female detective on TV.

Anna Backman Rogers & Laura Nicholson seek abstracts for their forthcoming edited monograph on the female detective on TV. DEADLINE MARCH 5TH.

Because The Basic Human Form is Female: The female detective in Television. Edited by Anna Backman Rogers and Laura Nicholson.

For decades, the female detective has occupied space within a genre that is all-too-often reserved for the celebratory storylines of self-sacrificial men. She has served to break down sexist barriers placed before women within professional and personal frameworks, acting as an on-screen surrogate for (female) spectators, globally. The female detective has succeeded in cultivating widespread audience attention and high ratings for multiple series across the world, underlining the popularity of, and desire for, the women-led, crime TV genre. It is curious then, that critical literature exploring this central figure’s contemporary, cultural significance is scarce. Given the abundance of on-screen material that has been produced throughout years of prime-time TV and (more recently) online streaming, it seems the female detective, in all her guises, has yet to be afforded the praise and exploration she deserves.

In response to this paucity of critical text, we are assembling the foundations of a special collection on the female detective in crime TV, in the format of a book to be edited by Anna Backman Rogers and Laura Nicholson. The proposal for this research comes just as we are witnessing a cultural ‘boom’ in detective shows featuring women as driving forces, across multiple media platforms. As such, the need for critical literature that explores the feminist realisations and potential of the female detective and her contemporary cultural importance, is timely.

We are calling for papers from scholars across disciplines, in order to shed light on the legacy of the female detective and the ways in which these powerful characters continue to inspire far-reaching audiences, while responding to the socio-political backdrop of their time.

We especially encourage papers from LGBTQ+, Feminist and BME scholars. We also seek contributions from a global perspective that bring to the fore series that we may be unaware of.

We hope to approach a major university publisher with this project after final decisions made by the editors on the collection.

Please send proposals of no more than 600 words to Laura Nicholson and Anna Backman Rogers before March 5th, 2018 at the following e mail addresses :- Anna.backman.rogers@gu.se and lauracate.nicholson@gmail.com

Topics may include, but are by no means limited to:

The intersectional feminism(s) of the female detective
Queering the female detective
Fashion and the female detective
Regionally-specific depictions of the female detective
Post-recessionary representations of the female detective
The female detective in period TV drama
The generational politics of the female detective ‘revamp’
The female detective team
Cross-cultural imaginings of the female detective
Interpretations of the female detective across international remakes
Female detective articulations of contemporary cultural flashpoints

The portrayal of violence and the female detective.

TV shows with leading female detectives include, but are not limited to:

Get Christie Love! (1974-1975, US)
Police Woman (1974-1978, US)

The Gentle Touch (1980-1984, UK)
Cagney & Lacey (1982-1988, US)
Miss Marple (1984-1992, UK), Agatha Christie’s Marple (2004-, UK)
Prime Suspect (1991-2006, UK)
Engrenages/Spiral (2005-, France)

Ashes to Ashes (2008-2010, UK)
Vera (2011-, UK)
Forbrydelsen (2007-2012, Denmark), The Killing (2011-2014, US)
Bron/Broen (2011-, Sweden/Denmark), The Tunnel (2013-, UK/France)
Scott and Bailey (2011-2016, UK)

The Bletchley Circle (2012-2014, UK)
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012-, Australia)
The Fall (2013-2016, UK)

Top of the Lake (2013-, New Zealand/Australia/UK)
Happy Valley (2014-, UK)
Quantico (2015-, US)
Jessica Jones (2015-, US)
Agent Carter (2015-, US)
Deep Water (2016, Australia)
Frankie Drake Mysteries (2017-, Canada/UK)

European TV series festival

Totally Serialized is back from 29-31 January with a 4th season full of the latest and hottest French and British shows at Ciné Lumière

Thrillers are a strong strand in this year's festival. Spiral enthusiasts are in for a treat as several events will be dedicated to this dark and labyrinthine Parisian crime drama. While Series 5 will be showing on BBC Four, the CANAL + CREATION ORIGINALE series will be unravelled by its screenwriter Anne Landois in a special screening of episode 1 at Ciné Lumière on 29 January. In addition, Caroline Proust, who plays Captain Laure Berthaud will give a masterclass where Spiral’s fans will learn behind-the-scene stories on 31 January. The UK premiere of Paris, a mini-series from the team behind Spiral, will top it all.

 
There will also be the UK Premiere of Jean-Christophe Grangé's The Passenger with actor Jean-Hugues Anglade (Braquo) and host a masterclass with Tony Grisoni in which he will decrypt the creative process behind the acclaimed Channel 4 TV show Southcliffe.

If you would like to find out more about the programme, you can go to  www.totallyserialized.co.uk

Newsy Stuff

Charles Cumming whose excellent spy novel Trinity Six is wowing everybody (including me) in the crime fiction world can be seen below discussing the Cambridge Spy Ring.

Of course one of the talking points of late has been the fact that for the big screen incarnation of Miss Marple by Disney they have chosen not to go with an older actress as befitting the status of Miss Marple as an elderly sleuth but have decided that she should be portrayed by Jennifer Garner. They are allegedly doing away with the perception of Miss Marple as a spinster and are going for the much younger generation. Comments regarding this casting can be found here, here, here and here. The Telegraph make it clear that they think the decision to cast Jennifer garner is a travesty. An article in the Guardian about the casing can be found here and here.

However according to Deadline.com who posted about the casting and Moviesblog.mtv the reboot is not yet a done deal.

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For those of you that have been missing the excellent French police procedural Spiral will be pleased to know that BBC4 will be showing series 3- The Butcher Of La Villette. The first episode will be shown on BBC 4 tonight at 9pm.

Fans of the Danish crime series The Killing will want to read this excellent article in the Guardian. There is also a very good beginners guide to read as well. Fans will also be pleased to learn that BBC 4 will also be showing series 2 of The Killing as well as part of their Spring/ Summer schedule. The Killing is also being remade by Fox for the US

Author Carlos Ruiz Zafón writes in the Guardian about his hero John Le Carré. He is as Zafón explains is one of the finest – if not the finest – writers of the past 45 years. Of course Le Carré has been in the news a lot this week. Nominated for the Man Booker International Prize 2011 Le Carré asked for his nomination to be withdrawn.

According to Entertainment Weekly Michael Connelly has a good idea who would be the right person to play Harry Bosch. The person he has in mind is Billy Burke who played Bella’s sheriff father in the Twilight saga. For those non Twilight watching people (and that includes me) a picture of Billy Burke is below.

Awards –

Left Coast Crime 2011 Awards for works published in 2010

THE LEFTY: Best humorous mystery novel - The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein by J. Michael Orenduff (Oak Tree Press)

THE BRUCE ALEXANDER MEMORIAL HISTORICAL MYSTERY: Best historical mystery novel, covering events before 1950 - The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear (HarperCollins)

THE HILLERMAN SKY AWARD: The mystery (short story to novel length) that best captures the landscape of the Southwest - The Spider's Web by Margaret Coel (Berkley Hardcover)

THE WATSON: Mystery novel with best sidekick - Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson (Viking)


THE DILYS (IMBA loved selling the most) - Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

Congratulations to all!

The Short Mystery Fiction Society have announced the winners of the 2011 Derringer Awards for short mystery fiction:-

Best Flash Fiction Story (under 1,000 words) - (TIE)

The Book Signing, by Kathy Chencharik, _/*Thin Ice: Crime Stories by New England Writers*/_, Leslie Wheeler, Mark Ammons, Barbara Ross, Kat Fast, Eds., Level Best Books, November, 2010
and The Unknown Substance by Jane Hammons, *A Twist of Noir*, December 27, 2010

Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 words) –

The Pewter Badge by Michael J. Solender, *Yellow Mama*, August, 2010

Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 words) - (TIE)

Care of the Circumcised Penis by Sean Doolittle, _/*Thuglit Presents: Blood, Guts & Whiskey*/_, Todd Robinson, Ed., Kensington Publishing Corp., May, 2010 and Interpretation of Murder by B. K. Stevens, *Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine*, December, 2010

Best Novelette (8,001-17,500 words) –

Rearview Mirror by Art Taylor, *Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine*, March, 2010

Congratulations to all the winners and those nominated.
Presentation of the Awards will take place in conjunction with the short story panel at Bouchercon 2011, held in St. Louis, MO in September.

News from the BBC

The BBC have announced a new psychological thriller for BBC One. The Fuse is an original five part drama that follows a politician who wakes up after an alcohol fuelled night and realises that he might be responsible for a murder.

Following on from the success of the first series of Silk, the BBC have announced that they have re-commissioned a second 6 part series which is due to be shown in 2012.

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Fans of Philip Glenister (seen most recently in Mad Dogs) will welcome the news that he is soon to be seen in Ronan Bennett’s complex new thriller on BBC One entitled Undisclosed. Undisclosed revolves around the efforts of Harry Venn played by Glenister, a small-time solicitor who is forced to delve into his murky past.

Jeremy Jheu in the Telegraph reviews a number of thrillers.

There is an excellent interview with Peter James the new Chair of the CWA on the blog Of Books and Reading. Peter has recently come back from a visit to India.

For those of you that are interested in what books are Ian Rankin favourite literary crime novels then The Daily Beast have them here. Unsurprisingly Muriel Spark makes the cut! For Ian Rankin Fans there is also an audio interview with him talking about his new book The Complaints on The Leonard Lopate Show done on his latest tour of the US.