The Subversive Power of Crime and Spy Novels
Traditionally, detective and spy stories reinforce the status quo. The perp goes to jail or dies, corruption is rooted out, and democracy is saved. Yet crime writing can also challenge genre conventions to expand concepts of justice and embolden resistance. We will read and discuss crime fiction by authors such as Michael Nava, Walter Mosley, Sara Paretsky, John le Carré, Barbara Wilson, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, and Attica Locke. Mostly discussion with some prompts for writing or reflection.
Class Skip Dates: 7/26/2023, 8/9/2023
Registration dates:
June 5: Scholarship Donation Day (Learn more.)
June 6: Member registration opens
June 13: General registration opens
Kate Raphael
Kate Raphael is a Lambda-nominated novelist, journalist, anarchafeminist and queer activist based in Seattle. Her prescient novel, The Midwife’s In Town, imagining a feminist underground in the South after Roe v. Wade has been overturned, came out in February 2022. Her Palestine mystery novels, Murder Under the Bridge and Murder Under the Fig Tree, won the Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY) and Foreword INDIEs Award. Kate received a 2011 Hedgebrook residency. She is a producer of KPFA radio Women’s Magazine, where one of her joys is interviewing authors. Kate has taught workshops in social justice fiction and writing for radio for seven years. She is pursuing an MFA in Writing at Goddard College. Connect with her at www.kateraphael.com or on Facebook and check out the Radical Fiction Facebook Group.
