The book launch for Crime Fiction in German took place on Thursday 14 April at the Squirrel Cafe in Uplands, Swansea.
Professor Claire Gorrara from Cardiff University, who is series editor of the University of Wales Press ‘European Crime Fictions’ series, kindly came over to say a few words. I said a bit about the volume and thanked all those who had helped it on its way – not least the marvellous contributors – before introducing extracts from Doris Gercke’s How Many Miles to Babylon and Simon Urban’s Plan D (read with aplomb by Christiane Günther and Kevin Sullivan). We completed proceedings with a special Krimi raffle of two copies of Crime Fiction in German and ten Krimis, and toasted the volume with Bitburger Bier. The evening’s winners are pictured below, along with a few other photos from a splendid night – many thanks to everyone who came along, including the Swansea Sleuths and Brynmill Bookclub.
For an interview about the volume, which includes Krimi recommendations from each chapter, head over to Lizzy’s Literary Life (thanks Lizzy!).
And a reminder that you have until the end of Sunday 17 April to enter the ‘Giant Krimi Giveaway’ on the ‘Mrs Peabody Investigates’ blog –> HERE!
Squirrel Krimi Giveaway winners from l to r: Pete, Maura, Tracey, Ute, Kim, Morgan, Steve, Susie, Tom and Amanda. Mrs P on the floor (too much Bier?)
Photo credits: Ewa Sherman and Kevin Sullivan.
With thanks to the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities at Swansea University and the University of Wales Press for supporting the book launch, and to the Goethe Institut London, Penguin, Michael Joseph and Vintage for supporting the giveaways. Special thanks to Bitter Lemon Press for sending an enormous pile of Krimis for the giveaways, including Jakob Arjouni’s Brother Kemal, Friedrich Glauser’s In Matto’s Realm and Esmahan Aykol’s Divorce Turkish Style.
Mrs. Peabody Investigates 
Oh, it all looks lovely, Mrs. P, and I am so happy for you 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Margot. It was a wonderful evening and there was lots of Krimi love in the air!
Krimi in the air and bier in the steins, sounds like an evening to remember! Congratulations!
Thanks, Quimper Hitty. It was a lovely evening all round 🙂
Prost! Not much beats an evening of good bier, good friends and good books. Wishing you continued success!
Prost! It was brilliant to have so many people come along. Crime aficionados are a very special type of lovely.
And there is me thinking Mrs P was an old biddy please accept my apologies Mrs P.
No apologies necessary! I think I am an old biddy at heart *knits primly*
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Thanks for sharing that Mrs P, and congratulations on what looked like a really very enjoyable and successful evening. The bier being a bonus no doubt 😊. The two ladies in the very last photo obviously had an exceptionally good time 😉! I think I will have to have a rootle through a certain online book store for some German crime, as they all sound incredibly interesting. Knitting ah, now there’s something I never got to grips with…..
Thanks very much, Kathy. It all went with a swing, as that last photo shows (one of my favourites!). I take it you’ve entered the giveaway in the previous post? I seem to remember you did, but just checking…
I came back to knitting after disastrous early experiences because a friend of mine opened an amazing yarn shop – Swansea Bay Yarns. In fact, it’s one of the ladies in that lovely photo, Debra Morgan. She has a way of making you want to knit…! I find it very relaxing and it’s helped me discover audiobooks as well, which is a bonus.
Yes, I most certainly did enter, Mrs P, ‘giveaway’ being one of my favourite words 😁.
When I was very young and in junior school, we were started off learning how to knit by knitting a dish cloth, big square, loose stitches, no tension etc. However, my teacher’s pursed lips told me that I had excelled in this oh so simple of tasks, by dropping more stitches than knitting them. She persevered though, put me in front of a sewing machine and I was away. Happy as Larry.
I’ve also tried audio books too from our library, but they have the effect of sending me to sleep 😴. Books, I love books, but the lack of space prevents me from keeping too many 😕. I was given a Kindle for Xmas, and now I can store 100’s. Many people think they are Satan personified but I love it, and have called her Ethel…..
Good to hear, Kathy! And isn’t it odd how we can have an affinity with a particular type of craft/hobby, but not necessarily a related one? I have friends who love to crochet, but not to knit and vice versa. I guess the key thing is that you find the one for you.
Ethel – an excellent choice of name. I find myself moving between books and ebooks and audiobooks now – whatever suits or fits the mood. We’re spoiled for choice. My only big worry in the digital age is for physical bookshops. I try to buy from these when possible, because I know I would be devastated to lose them…
So glad the whole event was such a success, you deserved it! Alas, living in China means it is not practical to enter the ‘giveaway’ but I always take note of your reviews and have downloaded books as a result. As to the knitting – when I was a girl at school in South Africa (many years ago) we were never given ‘lines’ to write as a punishment, we had to knit one or more 4 inch squares – these were eventually gathered together and stitched into blankets to go to people living in poverty in the ‘townships’ – I reckon I must have knitted the equivalent of about one and a half blankets in my school career!
Thanks for the good wishes, Herschelian, and I love the knitting-as-punishment story. You clearly had a very imaginative teacher or head!
If you’d like to enter the giveaway, please do. I can post to China should you win (or is there another problem that I’m not spotting?).
Great to hear that the blog reviews are contributing to your reading 🙂
Love how the pictures get increasingly blurry or crooked towards the end…
Congratulations, it looks like such a fun event – certainly a bit more lively than the academic book launches on very dry subjects that I’ve been part of! (Crime always attracts the best people, right?)
I’ve finally got my internet back, fingers crossed, after nearly 6 days of very poor service, so I can finally post my own review of your lovely book!
There was a lot of laughter, which can only be a good thing 🙂 A colleague told me yesterday that it was the best book launch he’d ever been to and then added: ‘I’ve been to three’…!
Sounds like you’ve had a frustrating few days. Looking forward to your review – thank you! Am running around this morning at work, but will check in around lunchtime.