Newcastle Noir 2018 will be launched on Friday 4th May and take place over the first Bank Holiday weekend (5/6th May). This will be the 4th Newcastle Noir and it has gained considerable momentum in that time. It’s a great festival for our region and with it comes a wealth of crime-writing expertise and wonderful characters from the local area, the UK and much further afield.
This year we will welcome over 40 crime writers, experts and publishers from far and wide to talk about their love for and experience of the subject. We bring together established authors like Val McDermid, Ann Cleeves and Stuart MacBride with emerging talent from the UK and beyond. Authors are grouped into panels and so each event is a discussion with three or four authors. We are pleased to offer a range of panels with themes including Crime in Translation, Norwegian Noir and Psychological Thriller.
As well as the author panels, visitors can participate in writing workshops and walking tours of the city that have a murderous theme.
Despite the subject, Newcastle Noir is the friendliest of crime-writing festivals, held in the most beautiful of locations. It’s a very informal atmosphere; the majority of authors can be seen all weekend, supporting their fellow authors and chatting to their readers.
We have always wanted to maintain the accessibility of Newcastle Noir, and so try to keep prices as low as we can and we always offer a concessionary rate. We want everyone who would like to attend, to be able to do so.
The festival organisers do this for the love of crime fiction, and take no fee. Much time is given ‘in-kind’ and overheads are low.The only expenditure is fees for the authors, and some promotional costs. If any money is left over, it goes back into the Newcastle Noir pot for the following year.
We are also able to offer volunteering opportunities throughout the festival, enabling people to learn and develop skills, as well as feel part of something very special. We need people to distribute promotional material, greet and direct people, steward at events, set up rooms and serve refreshments.
We would really like a little extra support in order to pay authors, and to spend on promoting the festival to wider audiences.