The conference is a
good chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones – among the latter,
I was glad to meet Rosemary Rowe and Nicola Slade at the Gala Dinner, and also
to meet Dick Francis’s son Felix. We kicked off with a mayoral reception in an
impressive new museum with a maritime theme. And there are always some
interesting talks – the topics covered included Saxon burial sites in
Hampshire, marine policing and local murder cases. Felix also gave a fascinating
talk about his father, and the “family business” of thriller writing.
I’ve never looked round
Southampton before, and on an all too brief Saturday afternoon walk around the
city, I was rather taken with the place – lots of greenery in the city centre,
a good waterfront and quite a bit of history, including the remains of the city
walls. And inevitably I popped in on one of the various exhibitions inspired by
the centenary of the launching of the Titanic.
All in all, then, a
most enjoyable experience. Organising a conference, though, is very hard work.
I once organised a weekend for the Northern Chapter of the CWA, and that was
demanding enough – sorting out a much bigger event and making sure all goes
smoothly is a real challenge. So a special mention for organiser Kate Stacey,
who did a great job (and thanks to Judith Cutler, who took a picture of us
together which so far Blogger has refused to let me upload...).
And finally, congratulations to Peter James, elected to chair the CWA for another year.
And finally, congratulations to Peter James, elected to chair the CWA for another year.
2 comments:
Although I am allergic to the Titanic anniversary hoo-haa, Southampton has a special reason to be an exception. A huge proportion of the people who died were from Southampton as the crew was largely composed of local people. Families there still remember, and suffer, today. Someone should put this history into a crime novel, as it is not generally appreciated (unless you live in S/ton or have visited their exhibition).
Hi Maxine, great to hear from you. And you're right, it would be interesting to have a Titanic based crime novel. I suppose there have been some over the years, but I don't actually know of any.
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