CWA Edinburgh Conference 21 – 23 April 2017

The CWA Annual Conference, open to CWA members only, is shaping up to be a lot of fun – and a chance to get together with fellow writers in a superb setting in Edinburgh, the Jekyll and Hyde of cities – between the New Town and the Old.

Have you booked your conference ticket yet? If not, log in with your members’ details for information and the registration form. We advise you to book as soon as you can. Booking closes 13 April. We would love to see you there.

The Conference itself is only open to CWA Members. However, guests of members are welcome to the Gala Dinner on Saturday 22 April where Lord Justice Clerk Leeona, Lady Dorrian will be the after-dinner speaker. Anyone who would like to attend the three-course Gala Dinner (£30) and has a connection with the CWA in general or a member in particular should contact the CWA on the email shown.

Everyone is welcome to attend ‘Dates with Dangerous Authors’, a Meet the Author-Speed Dating event in Blackwells Bookshop on Sunday 23 April starting at 2.30pm.

At the end of the conference, on Sunday 23 April, there will be an event at Blackwell’s Bookshop – a CWA celebration of World Book and Copyright Day. It will be a Meet the Author–Speed Dating type of event and should be great fun. We do hope some of you will stay on and take the opportunity to meet readers (and even sell some books …) For CWA members, if you would like to take part, please let us know once you have booked your conference ticket. Obviously, places are limited, so the sooner you tell us the better!

If you’re not a CWA member but you are a crime-writing fan, we would be thrilled to see you at Blackwell’s on Sunday 23 April.

Very Short Story Competition

We would like to invite CWA members who have registered for the conference to take part in our CWA Edinburgh Conference Very Short Story Competition. This is sponsored by perfumier Sarah McCartney.

Among her range Sarah has a series of four Mystery Perfumes – each of which has a cosy-crime-type story with it. Sarah has given us the names of two of her other perfumes to use as intriguing titles for our Short Story Competition:

• Inevitable Crimes of Passion
• Be careful what you wish for.

The stories should be a maximum of 500 words. Closing date for submissions is 15 February 2017.

The winners will be announced at the conference, and the prize will be one of Sarah’s fragrances (they are for men and women). The winner and runner-up for each title will have their stories published in Red Herrings.

Looking forward to receiving your stories! See December’s Red Herrings for full submission details.

* If you missed our first newsletter, you can find it in the CWA members section in Resources. The conference booking form is there too.

The Organising Team

Marianne Wheelaghan, Aline Templeton, Alex Gray, Aly Monroe