I don’t read crime fiction. I hate justice.* So I went undercover at the second Crime and Justice festival at the Abbotsford Convent, the brainchild of Reader’s Feast head Mary Dalmau. It’s a little bit smaller than Writers at the Convent, but had a healthy audience for such a young festival. And any excuse to visit the convent is okay in my book. With a greater breadth of guests next year, this festival will be even better. As it was, I had a good time — the other volunteers were lovely, and the volunteer coordinators, Jane and Imogen, were super as always.

International crime fiction writers Linwood Barclay and Scott Frost were in conversation with literary agent Clare Forster. Barclay, apart from the definite distinction of being a ‘two last names’ guy, has written a novel, No Time for Goodbye, which was Richard and Judy’s highest selling novel ever. Look at them coconuts. Scott Frost, once a screenwriter for Twin Peaks and almost screenwriter for The X-Files, is also the author of the Lieutenant Alex Delillo crime novels. Twin Peaks freaks, apparently the extent of David Lynch’s participation in the story process was ‘I want a scene centred around creamed corn.’

Barclay was your classic ‘win ‘em over with self-deprecating anecdotes’ fellow, describing being a writer as ‘being subjected to humiliations you never even knew existed’. The genesis of his novels is ‘the hook’; for example, his novel Too Close to Home was born of the thought: what if the family next door were murdered, and you found out the hit was meant for you?

Louise Adler certainly knows a good story when she sees one. I’m not sure many people could resist the hook of Colin McLaren’s book: Infiltration details McLaren’s experience as an undercover agent in the Griffith mafia. McLaren – tall, expressive, gentle, impressive – first recounted the early days of his career as a young copper on the beat. Policing, like publishing and business, is a relationships game, and McLaren’s complicated cultivation of Melbourne’s great crime families in the 70s and 80s served him well in deep cover with the Italian mafia. These skills, his wits, drugs, a lifelong passion for art and pure dumb luck served McLaren well in the dangerous endeavour. Another man suspected by the Griffith mafia of being a snitch was found with six rounds of bullets through his body.

Jeff Sparrow, incomparably thoughtful on his experience researching his book, Killing, and sometimes blunt: ‘I would say that I did not have a good time.’ Sparrow travelled to meet, among others, people who killed kangaroos for a living, abattoir workers, holocaust deniers and prison execution staff. Sparrow intuited several aspects of the idea of killing that are at first not readily apparent, such as class, complicity and the onus on society to compose the phenomenon of life such that killing is no longer seen as necessary.

Also found out about the Sisters in Crime organisation, which has story competitions and events all year long.

* Not.

Hemingway was a crap spy for the KGB.

From the Productivity Commission’s Research Report regarding the parallel importation of books:

Having considered industry feedback and undertaken further analysis, the Commission is recommending that the PIR provisions be repealed, and that:

– Three years notice should be given to facilitate industry adjustment.
– Current financial assistance for encouraging Australian writing and publishing should be reviewed immediately, and any changes implemented prior to the repeal of the PIRs. The new arrangements should be reviewed after five years.
– To assist in monitoring the impact of these changes, the ABS should undertake a revised version of its 2003-04 industry survey as soon as possible and update it prior to the five year review.

At least they have the grace to say they’re screwing up the industry:

While the Commission judges that the reforms would generate net benefits for Australia as a whole, abolition of the PIRs would — of themselves — cause some contraction or slowing in the growth in the book production industries.

We use a lot of sticky notes at my work but they aren’t as cute as these!!!!!!!! (via) Forgive the outburst, it’s just that time of the week.

Only, like, my new favourite website: That’s Punny.

Werner Herzog has a new book, Conquest of the Useless.

This post may positively enthrall those of you who reside in Melbourne, and will probably bore the rest of you to death. (Friends of mine who now live in Senegal, you are in the first category, and will in fact forever be obliged to enjoy everything I write.)

So, Maddie and I have had our proposal for a show on SYN FM approved. It will, naturally, be about books and writing and literary magazines and writers and readers. Yay us, etc. If there’s anything/one/book that you, as a Melbourne-based literary person, would like to hear about, let me know. Raf reminds me that it’s possible for interstate/international friends to listen at SYN’s website. It’s on Saturday from 1 until 2 (pm you guys, though I secretly suspected they might try to give us a graveyard shift). Starts 18th July. Good hangover cure.

Person who visited this blog by searching for “centre for books writing and ideas” job marketing, I am sure you will like this one. I’m going to a friendly meeting with Michael Williams, head of programming at the Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, and some other bookish bloggers next Thursday. If you have any thoughts, fervent dreams and hopes, etc. about the Centre, feel free to leave a comment and I will endeavour to deliver your views to the Admiral. For example, why don’t they have a website yet? (One, at least, that I can find in the first two Google search pages.)