Delhi's date with crime fiction

From violence against women in crime novels to decoding the world of prolific Pakistani crime writer Ibn-e-Safi, the inaugural edition of Crime Writers Festival here will touch upon an array of issues shaping contemporary crime writing in India.

Promoted by Siyahi, a literature promotion group, the two-day festival beginning this Saturday will be held at the India Habitat Centre.

The event will bring crime and thriller writers from across the world to discuss the art of crime writing to see how it influences society.

Touching upon a number of themes like how cyber crime has invaded fiction, how to introduce humour into an otherwise serious genre and what makes crime writers steer clear of political crime -- the festival will pay an ode to this writing genre that is slowly gaining popularity among the masses.

The festival has been conceptualised by Namita Gokhale, co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, writer Kishwar Desai and the Crime Writer's Forum of South Asia.

Alka Pande, curator and historian, is donning the hat of creative director.

Celebrated authors like Anita Raghavan, Mahmood Farooqui, Ashwin Sanghi, S.Hussain Zaidi and Jerry Pinto, among several others will discuss the world of crime fiction.

The king of Hindi pulp fiction Surendar Mohan Pathak will talk about his bestselling tactics and iconic detectives Vimal and Sunil.

Norwegian author Nils Nordberg, who has nearly 300 thriller titles to his credit, will discuss the morally complex sub-genre of Scandinavian crime fiction.

In a session titled "Byomkesh Bakshi and the Bangla Bloodhound", authors Zac O' Yeah and Mukul Deva will draw distinctions between Indian and Western detective fiction.

Along with these discussions, there will also be book-reading sessions and workshops at different venues.