Gathered by Janet Laurence with her usual impressive skill--for the last time, she insists. Some corrections or clarifications by Annette Meyers, President, IACW-NA follow.

Jenny White (USA): from Boston, her first book, The Sultan’s Seal, was doing well, had been translated into a number of languages; to her surprise it had been suggested it could be the first of a series, the second will be out in February. She also teaches anthropology in Boston University.

Anna Grue (Denmark): is  a magazine editor. Brought out a suspense novel 2 years ago. To her surprise she was awarded a prize by the Danish Crime Writers’ Association.  Now given up day job and about to publish the first in a series of what she sees as genuine crime novels.

Sandy Balzo (USA): comes from Wisconsin. Published her first novel two years ago, the second now coming out. Is a Public Relations consultant, her triumph is that she got her first client on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Esmahan Aykol (Turkey/Germany): Trained as a lawyer in Turkey. Came to Germany to do a doctorate in family law. In 2001 published her first novel, gave up the doctorate and is now a full-time writer.

Jeanette Oequist (Sweden): is not yet a published writer. She worked for sixteen years in the police crime department specialising in economic/white collar crime. Worked for several years with Scandinavian AIEP and is currently Vice-President for Sweden.

Hubert Van Lier (Belgium): Had his first crime novel published in 2000; three more have followed, all with an Antwerp background. He is President of the Flemish Crime Writers Association.

AUSTRIA – Helga Anderle: Austrian now had 40 members and crime novels were being received with more and more interest. There was now an annual Crime Night, with readings in various coffee houses. In 2008  Vienna would host a Criminale with a Crime Book Fair in the municipality and announce itself as the Empire of Crime Novels. Over 400 authors writing in German would attend. It was hoped that Eastern European authors might be interested. Those who used to attend AIEP seemed, apart from Emanuel  Ikonomov  to have lost interest. Criminale will be held in April 2008. There would be little money in it but Vienna was a great city to visit and she hoped many AIEP members would attend.

BELGIUM – Hubert Van Lier: The Flemish association was founded in 2001 by Bob Mendes and has made steady progress. Unfortunately, it has been unable to organise a professional website so far. They are searching for sponsors and have asked for support from the Flämisch Foundation for Literature. They are not willing to help crime writers. In 2007 we have been contacting magazine editors and also with several countries. Proposals for activities connected with the 750 year celebrations of Meir, Antwerp’s main street came to nothing. A planned Association weekend in France also failed. So there are many time consuming problems to be dealt with.

BULGARIA – Emanuel Ikonomov: Brought greetings from the Chairman, who was unable to attend. The branch has some 50 members and is attracting new members. As well as writers, the branch is accepting journalists, painters, designers, etc, with the idea of promoting co-operation between them. The branch held a shooting competition. Sadly publishing in Bulgaria is going through a difficult phase. He had just published a book by Bulgaria’s leading crime writer, who had just won the Atanas Manoladjiev prize with no interest being shown by the media or the public. Most of the books published seem to be from the US, there is little interest in Bulgarian writers.  The branch is alive and kicking but can’t find anyone to kick.

DENMARK – Anna Grue: She was sorry not to see Kirsten Holst at the Conference; Kirsten has trouble with her back and was not well enough to come. Anna reported that there was plenty of activity in the Danish crime scene. The Crime Fair was growing bigger every year and was attended by many from Sweden and Norway. They tended to come by invitation. Next year’s Crime Fair, 5th/6th April, is expected to be even larger. The Danish Ministry of Culture may make a grant to it. A real website is needed to provide a proper platform for the Fair.

GERMANY – Thomas Przybilka: Crime fiction trends in Germany very healthy. The Association has around 500 members and includes writers from Austria and Switzerland. 220-250 crime novels written in German published each year, plus 500-800 by foreign authors. There are many crime events taking place throughout Germany. The first annual year book for members is being produced. The Ministry of Culture for the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz is opening a Kriminalehouse in Hillsheim near Daun that will include a bookshop, coffee shop and research library for crime authors (Thomas has donated 26,000 novels), and will organise discussions of the genre with universities. AIEP colleagues from Japan have been the first to visit the new Kriminalehouse.

ICELAND- Aevar Orn: Is President of SKS, the Scandianvian branch of AIEP. Denmark has withdrawn from the association, which is now composed of Norway, Sweden, Finland & Iceland, but is still involved in the choosing of the Nordic Crime novel of the year. The SKS annual meeting in Helsinki went well. The crime novel is popular in Scandinavia and the Scandinavian crime novel is popular throughout the world. The Icelandic branch now has a new President and almost completely new board and is going strong. 2009 could see the AIEP annual conference in Iceland, combined with the SKS conference, but it would have to be in the spring rather than the autumn.

As far as the President’s announcement that Aevar would address the meeting on the matter of what AIEP was for, he said he had put forward a series of questions on this prior to the meeting and they had been put on the agenda for discussion on Saturday afternoon. He did not propose to discuss them at this meeting, merely to get people’s minds working on the questions. Helga said that networking was a valuable function, Jutta Motz that AIEP had been fighting censorship, Bernard Cornwell that his proposals regarding Crime Time could be relevant.

Piet reminded the conference that he was a Belgian living in Spain who had French and English speaking grandsons. He had just written the tenth novel in a crime series in which he had killed off his protagonist.

There had not been much activity for him as President. However he had been in almost daily contact with Fritz regarding this Berlin conference. Fritz had coped with the heavy organisational burden whilst undergoing an operation in Switzerland and having to rely on the telephone from his hospital bed. Piet wanted to warn potential organisers that the task was hard and thankless; he would not want to do it but he hoped others would.

He had not had to intervene in matters of censorship but had been asked by the Flemish association to assist with a battle they were having with the New Institute of Literature which was allocating money to writers. The Institute was excluding crime writers as not part of literature. Piet had written a letter of protest to the Ministry of Culture, who had replied that they would ensure the grants distinguished between good and bad writers rather than particular genres.

A young writer from Columbia, South America,  Ruben Andres Varona, had been in touch. He was enthusiastic, intended to attend the next AIEP conference and there was hope that the S American branch might revive. Susan Moody asked what had happened to the previous S American members. Piet suggested that he write to Paco Inacio Taibo to see if contact could be revived. So few of the S American writers could afford to travel; when it was suggested funds could be available to help them travel to the Mexican conference that had had to be cancelled due to Hurricane Wilma, they had been insulted and refused the offer.

As far as future conferences were concerned, 2008 was hoped to be in Frontignan, near Montpellier, France but there had been a suggestion that it was time to have another conference in North America (made by José Latour, the Cuban writer now living in Toronto). There was the possibility of piggy-backing with the Bloody Words conference, which would take place in Toronto in 2008 if the French conference proved impossible to organise. In 2009 there was the possibility that it would be held in Iceland, as explained by Aevor. Again, Bloody Words could provide a back-up location if this failed to materialise. There was a suggestion that in 2010 the conference could be held in Denmark and in 2011 that it could be held in Estonia.

BUSINESS MEETING NO 2 – Friday, 7th September

1. Reports from branches:

JAPAN – Ken Matsuzaka.  Ken introduced himself saying he was a marketing professor at a Japanese university who was also a critic of mysteries and wrote dissertations. The Japanese mystery scene was strong.  However he asks himself how he could contribute to the Japanese crime writing scene. Each year the best five foreign mysteries are elected by votes f over 200 mystery fans, organisations and critics. So the result is a little different from that of popular taste.

2004: 1. Affinity by Sarah Waters; 2: Death in Captivity by Michael Gilbert (originally published much earlier but only translated and published in Japan this year 3: Speaks the Nightbird by Robert R McCammon; 4: Silent Witness  by Richard North Patterson; 5: The Hook by Donald E Westlake.

2005: 1. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters; 2: The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver’ 3: Incident at Twenty-Mle by Trevanian; 4: The Da Vince Code by Dan Brown (sold over a million copies in Japan also); 5: The Final Country by James Crumley

2006: 1: The Crime Machine and Other Stories by Jack Ritchie (old short stories); 2: Lost Light by Michael Connolly; 3: A World of Thieves by James Carlos Blake; 4: Bright Segment by Theodore Sturgeon (old short stories); 5: Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver

Very proud that a Japanese female crime novelist, Natsuo Kirino’s “OUT” was nominated for the 2004 MWA Edgar Allan Poe Award in the Best Novel Category (it was won by Ian Rankin’s “Resurrection Men”).

Ken would like to get more crime books published, and to write an article on this AIEP conference. Cannot promise to come to next conference but would like to and to bring friends who are mystery editors and do business. Marketing is a big issue in Japan, so is translation, and easiest way to talk is face to face. Publishers are always looking for new authors.

NETHERLANDS – Chris Rippon: Charles den Tex should be giving the report but is in France recovering from his operation. He sends his best wishes and hopes to be with us next year. Crime literature doing very well in the Netherlands. Last year 25% of all main line books published were crime novels, Dutch as well as translations. But there was a big difference between the big selling authors and the small ones. There were three authors each selling more than 100,000 copies of a book. Dutch AIEP is also doing well. It has 80 members. The long list for the Golden Noose award has 69  books on it. Crime writing has gained an impressive amount of publicity, including a mention of Crime Time. The award has received official support and the translation of the winning titles. The announcement of the winner will be made on The Night of the Thrills (official name: Power of Plots), it should be quite an evening. Judges on the award, though, complained of lack of quality writing. Publishers are taking risks with some new writers and not giving editorial support.

SPAIN – Fernando Martínez Laínez

There is a boom of crime novels in Spain. His association has some 50-60 members, including many new young writers, who are interested in crime novels. He has had to refound the organisation, slightly changing the rules. It has taken several months but is almost completed. It is being run by more or less the same people as before plus some young blood. A main item for the future is to have a web page. Intended to be part of that of the Spanish Writers’ Association. As soon as achieved, he will circulate the details via e-mail to AIEP members.

Last year he produced an anthology of Spanish crime writers, which went very well and included most of the AIEP members. The Association has three main meetings planned: In October/November at Tomelloso in La Mancha. Last summer there was a meeting in Valladolid when a crime novel prize had been announced and it was hoped to repeat this in 2008. The Book Fair of Madrid is not very big, takes place over 2-3 days and is mainstream but has offered the crime writers a place in it.

Thinks Aevor’s discussion proposals are excellent. AIEP needs to be kept active and achieve concrete projects.

Fernando will be editing a collection of short stories by writers working in Spanish, including from South and Central America, and the prospects for it are good. There are a number of new writers producing mystery and crime novels in Spain.

Semana Negra still takes place and has celebrated its 20th anniversary. Many crime writers attend. If invited, expenses are taken care of; otherwise writers may attend but have to pay for themselves and may not take part in round tables, etc.

SWITZERLAND – Jutta Motz:  Standing in for Paul Ott, who has influenza and regrets he is not well enough to attend. The Swiss are members of the German Syndikat. Swiss writers are organised and professional. Paul in 2001 got all the crime authors writing in German together. Now every two years have a meeting: Mords Tage (Mords = ‘murder’ but also ‘great’ ; Tage = days; so it can either by Murder Days or Great Days) .

Paul has achieved something new and unique. Switzerland has four languages: German, French, Italian and an old language based on classical Latin and spoken in a small area of the Alps. Paul has produced an anthology that includes stories in all four languages, which has never been done before.

For Mords Tage readings are organised, usually in groups of three or four, with two or three well known authors partnered with one new or little known author. The readings are held in restaurant with the readings around drinking and eating. The restaurants pay the authors – the same amount to each author whether well or little known. Paul also offers villages the chance to be featured by an author in a story for a payment. The author then gives a reading of the story. This year for the first time French and German authors have visited the other part of the country.

On the last Saturday in October, when the clocks change and an extra hour is gained, there is a night of readings. Known as the Long Night of the Short Story it produces masses of readings and offers fans the opportunity of meeting authors. A leaflet is produced which is circulated on the public transport system; it includes a reservation section. Sometimes a publishing house will invest money in promoting an author. This year there is an arrangement co-operating with Mords Tage. There are trams that offer readings which can be booked. Vineyards sell wine in bookshops so that a glass can be bought before the tram is boarded. The trams are booked out six weeks in advance. The evening lasts from 2.00 pm to 3.00 am, when the clocks are changed and the evening ends.

UNITED KINGDOM – Janet Laurence: Brought greetings from the Chairman of the UK Crime Writers’ Association, Philip Gooden and the sad news that AIEP member Peter Chambers had died. Susan Moody reminded the meeting of how popular the jazz pianist and thriller writer had been at meetings.

Janet said that crime writing was alive and well in the UK, with crime novels apparently outselling literary ones by a ratio of six one, and Public Lending Rights revealing that crime is the most popular fiction genre amongst library borrowers.

The UK members of AIEP are also members of the UK Crime Writers’ Association, who run the Dagger awards for the year’s best crime books. The current sponsors of the major awards are the merchant bank Duncan Lawrie and they have signed up until at least 2010 and raised the award for the Gold Dagger for best Crime Fiction Book from £3,000 to £20,000. The bad news is that it will not accept novels in translation for consideration. To compensate, the Duncan Lawrie International Dagger has been created, which rewards not only the writer but also the translator. For the second year of its existence it was won by the same writer and translator as the first year: Fred Vargas and translator Sian Reynolds. At the Award Dinner, Fred gave a very amusing speech underlining just how resentful foreign writers are for being denied an opportunity to win the main award.

Crime Conferences and Festivals are multiplying. The Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in July is currently sponsored by Theakston’s Old Peculier, grows bigger and bigger and attracts major names from the States as well as the UK and elsewhere. St Hilda’s Crime Mystery Weekend is in Oxford in August, is theme driven and more intimate. Now there will be Crime Fest in Bristol, 5th – 8th June. It will be Bristol based and bi-ennial. The organiser, Adrian Muller is keen to attract foreign authors. All attending authors are guaranteed a panel appearance. For further information, e-mail Adrian at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The number of general literary festivals grows larger every year and crime novelists are featured in most of them. The number of excellent crime writers in Scotland, which include Ian Rankin and Denise Mina to name but two, ensures a presence at the major Edinburgh International Book Festival.

USA – Jim Weikart t: The Nor American International Crime Writers’ Association runs the Hammett Award for literary excellence in a crime novel. The main presentation of a statue (there is no cash element) takes place in a different venue each year. This year it will take place at a booksellers’ convention. Four of the five short listed authors will be present.

North American ICWA has 200-250 members, down from an initial 400 but now steady. In North America, the Mystery Writers’ Association is largest association but includes unpublished aspiring crime writers. The Edgars are the most prestigious prizes and Bouchercon, this year in Alaska, is the biggest annual crime convention. Then there is Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic based in Washington, and others in Florida, New England and Philadelphia, and more emerging.

Jeremiah Healey had published a new version of his How to Get Published in the US and How to Get Translated in America, based on his presentation to the Scandinavian Crime Writers. The North American ICWA will host a dinner for any foreign member of AIEP visiting New York or Philadelphia (offered by Deen Kogan, who has arranged three Bouchercons as well as numerous other conferences)

Jim Madison Davis is trying to do a better job with the web site and encourages submission of articles for publication on line. World Literature Today, anxious to increase their popularity, wanted him to explain crime writing. His article stimulated a large response and now he is a regular columnist for them. Paul Pakos from Estonia had contributed an article on endangered languages. He circulated some sample articles.

2. Apologies:

The President announced that Paul Pakos had sent regrets he was unable to come to the conference. He has contact with a translator and any author who can produce a publisher for an Estonian author to be translated into English will have an English writing author translated into Estonian.

He also had regrets from Claude Mesplède from France, who sent greetings.   He is organising AIEP to piggy-back on the ‘Festival International du Roman Noir’ of Frontignan near Monpellier in the South of France in the last 3 days in June 2008. There is information on the 2007 festival at: http//www.polar.frontignan.org. The difficulty was finding a suitable hotel. It could be necessary to find somewhere in Montpellier and organising buses to and from Frontignan. Research would continue.

The President said that he wished those who had prominent names in crime writing could do more to promote AIEP. For instance, they could publicise the fact that they are members on their web sites.

It was also necessary, he said, to discuss tomorrow the financing of AIEP. Can the members produce money. If they can, there is the question of what should be done with it:

Tomorrow the President had asked Helga Anderle and Susan Moody, the longest serving members of the association, to tell the conference how it had started and with what aims, bearing in mind Aevor’s questions.

4. Future Conference Locations:

2008:  France – see above

2009: Iceland – after much discussion during which Aevor said that hotels would probably be expensive and the conference would have to be combined with Scandinavian conference (for which they were trying to raise funds), which would probably be scheduled for mid-June, the brightest time of the year. He said that Iceland was situated half way between Europe and North America and should prove attractive to both. He undertook to produce a package to include the cost of hotel, conference, dates, and an outline programme by the next conference.  He said that there were five US cities that flew direct to Rekjavik and that his return ticket to Berlin had cost roughly 350 Euros. Iceland Express was not usually cheaper than Iceland Air, which was working hard to compete with them.

2010: Oklahoma – Jim Madison Davis explained that Oklahoma University was keen to improve its image. Oklahoma City airport, 30 minutes from the university, was good, the university had a conference centre, a hotel and a TV station staffed mainly by students from the School of Journalism, where he taught, which was also anxious to expand its reputation and had funds available for sponsorship. The students were interested in doing interviews and writing articles, which could be advantageous.  A year was needed to organise a conference.

2011:   Istanbul might be a possibility. Esmahan Aykol undertook to investigate the possibility and report back. Other possibilities were Denmark and Estonia.

2008 – Congress

The President pointed out that 2008 was a Congress year in which a new President and Officers needed to be elected. The procedure for electing a new President was for three volunteers to be appointed as an Election Committee. The Committee would then assess the candidacy of any member putting themselves forward to be President, and approach members they considered were suitable to stand for as President, then produce two or three candidates to present themselves to the  Congress. The President invited members who were willing to form part of the Election Committee to speak to him privately.

Bob Cornwell’s presentation of Crime Time was delayed until the first item of the following day’s business meeting.                                                                                                                                               
SATURDAY

Bob Cornwall – Crime Time

The market for publishing crime fiction in translation in the UK over the last few years has been improving. In 2007 some 40-45 will appear and writers such as Henning Mankel and Boris Akunin have a large following. Various web sites have helped spread the word.

Virginie Brac in Amsterdam produced a booklet which had impressed Bob, who talked to her and produced his thoughts on a project that would publish up-to-date information on foreign crime publishing scenes. Interest has now been expressed by Crime Time, a UK crime fiction magazine that is now being published both on the web and available in print to order, in publishing a series of articles by Bob under the AIEP name on various foreign crime fiction scenes.

Bob circulated the article he had written on the UK scene and a synopsis of the information which would be needed from the different countries. It was suggested that an initial six articles be published, which could be followed up with further surveys of other countries. Initially the articles would be exclusive to Crime Time but short forms could be made available to other markets. The articles could be a valuable source of information to publishers as well as fans and students of crime fiction. There could be huge potential in the idea.

The web address for Crime Time: www.crimetime.co.uk

The idea was thought excellent. Bob went through a possible time table and extracted promises of help from various AIEP members. It was suggested critics could be helpful. Information should be factual and objective. Additional sections could be added if thought necessary by contributors.

Initially the following countries considered it could be possible to produce the required information:

By June 2008:  France (already hopefully in progress); Germany (Thomas as contact); Italy (no representative present, Franco Ossi might be contacted); Spain: Fernando Martinez Lainez

By the second half of 2008 Holland might be possible. Chris Rippon would discuss possibility with Charles den Tex, who is interested.

Other countries:

Greece: No AIEP member: A suggestion made to talk to Makarios, who might be able to find a young writer to do it..Also CWA member Paul Johnson lives in Athens and might be able to help, he knows some crime critics.

Scandinavia: Aevor provided a number of contacts and suggests getting involved with someone in each country. Barry want Sweden involved at an early stage. Jeannette knows the Swedish scene. No one had heard of Thomas Ludwigson, a name Barry had suggested. Anna offered help, she knows Kirsten. Anders is a key person in Swedish crime writing, and also in Danish.
.
Austria; Helga could get something established.

Switzerland: Paul Ott

Turkey: One on one.

Bob will get back to Barry and see how it can be set up then come back with an idea of a timetable.

2) FUTURE OF AIEP & ITS FINANCES

AIEP’S goals, as stated in our statutes and on our Website:
1)  To promote crime writing in nations where it lacks traditional roots:

Are we doing this? Where? How? Have we mapped the countries where the crime novel “lacks traditional roots” and focused on them accordingly?

Various information was produced from the floor as to the purposes of AIEP:

a)   Promotion of members’ work:

Helga and Susan mentioned a project which was set up some fifteen years ago: an international anthology for countries with no traditional crime writing roots. It included women, though only three women were present at the Prague conference, where it was created. The anthology included writers from: Cuba, Algeria, Russia, Japan (though the submission was too long), the Eastern Bloc countries, and included such traditional countries as Great Britain and France. The anthology was successful, published in hardcover and paper back in German and Czech. At that stage there was no e-mail. The aim of AIEP was for crime writers from all around the world to meet and learn about the struggles that various colleagues underwent. It was shaming for some Westerners to learn about other writers who had no paper, who suffered under political regimes. This is what AIEP is about.

It was suggested there should be encouragement of smaller countries to form their own associations.

2)  To encourage the translation of crime novels from their original language into others:

Are we doing this? Where? How? Do we need to do this at all? If so, to what ed?

It could be considered that on Point Two AIEP is doing well.

It was stated that AIEP had for many years been trying to achieve translations of
crime writers into English. Not much progress has been made. Bob Cornwall said that the situation in England was now changing but that it was difficult for AIEP members  to know the publishing situation. It was pointed out that various efforts had been made, Helga had translated a story from Fench into German and opened doors for a writer. An anthology had been published in Spain with submissions translated into Spanish. Another had been published in Austria. AIEP had made progress in various areas.

Jerry Healey said he had suggested members in the US could take the first chapter of a translation and polish it for submission to a publisher but so far only one person had taken up the offer.

3)  To collect and distribute information about the genre of crime writing, through newsletter, symposia, and conferences throughout the world:

Are we doing this? Where? How? Do our cozy little conferences add anything to the public knowledge of the genre? Where is our newsletter? And does “information about the genre of crime writing” need to be collected and distributed at all?

See discussion below.

4) To advocate freedom of expression and to fight censorship.

Are we doing this? Where? How?

AIEP had fought censorship. At its first meeting it protested against the imprisonment of Vaclav Havel and the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. There have many letters of protest written by AIEP officers and members, which have been of value. Thankfully, many of the countries where writers have political difficulties have diminished in recent years.

The Conference then discussed the need for AIEP

When Susan was President she asked the question at one of the conferences, ‘Why AIEP and do we need it?’ The overwhelming answer was that YES. There was no question but that there was a need for it.

The meeting considered the action that was now necessary. Various suggestions were made:

Aevor, who had put forward the motion, said that Amsterdam was the first conference he had attended and he did not consider that the programme had anything to do with the goals of the association. He wanted to know what was happening to make the aims easier to achieve.

It was pointed out that AIEP conference-attendance  is only forty. Membership should be promoted amongst the membership of the crime writer associations in the various countries.

Often a sense of priority in aims has pertained. Resolutions often taken but forgotten after the conference at which they were passed has finished, apart from the anthologies which have been produced by such as Helga and Fernando. Susan: Part of problem, we meet, we make resolutions, we then go home and forget until the next year, apart from members such as Helga and Fernando who produce anthologies.

Nations which currently lack traditional crime writing roots need to be identified so that help can be focused on them.

The Vice Presidential structure could work better; committees could be formed to give individual people responsibility for execution and accountability. Vice Presidents could take a member from each of the countries in their brief to carry through an aim.
It was thought desirable to enable the South Americans to return to AIEP.

It was considered that Bob Cornwell’s project was excellent as it involved AIEP
members and could be global.

But is it something AIEP should really be doing? However, help should be given to everyone who is producing background information.

The President suggested that some of AIEP’s goals could be changed at the 2008 Congress. He also suggested choosing one goal to be worked towards for each year.

Aevor said members were not always informed on what was happening. Information should be directed to the President. It was suggested that the President’s letters should be disseminated to all members, not merely branch leaders. There should be a system in place whereby members can be asked their opinions, can provide information on new situations, etc. There needs to be a communication structure. A membership directory should be sent to each member, which should include e-mail addresses. Though there was a list of members on the AEIP website, it was perhaps not always kept up to date as regional leaders did not produce changes, and there were members who did not want their addresses put on the list, which was available to non-members.

It was suggested a goal for the next year could be for all national associations to carry the AIEP logo.

However it was pointed out that several local branches have rules which are contradictory to AIEPS’s goals.

For AIEP’s voice to be heard, AIEP has to raise its profile. It is then possible for the association to protest effectively when writers are incarcerated and censored, which is happening. If a letter of protest was needed, it did not need the approbation of members before it was sent by the President.

President suggested that until the next meeting, every branch of AIEP puts the logo on their local organisation website and informs every member they are a member of AIEP. However evidence was produced from Germany that this approach did not produce active members of AIEP.

The Conference discussed the question of finances

The question of a modest annual subscription was raised.

It was suggested that it was difficult to ask people to pay money to be a member of the organisation if AIEP did not known who it was. There was no world wide structure.

The difficulty of different currencies and no central administration which makes collecting an annual fee was discussed. On the other hand, there was a willingness for attendees at the conference to contribute to costs. Any surplus could be carried over to the next conference. It was pointed out that a receipt could enable attendees to claim the cost against tax, which would reduce the expense.

Conferences were no longer lavishly sponsored and members needed to contribute.

S America: Fernando. We need to make this structure work it is already a structure. Had a name, head of Chilean association of crime writers, not talked to him, but work very well known, name Ramon Ramón Díez Eterovich, he has participated in several round tables. Written also about crime literature. Piet can ask him will he take the job. We agree.

It was suggested that if the Conference wanted to do more than meet once a year and have fun, it should be pointed out that AIEP should have tasks and ideas to be promoted over each annual meeting. If so, AIEP needed a Vice President, a secretary, and a board of 3-4 people who would work on several subjects. It was important that next year the conference did not start at the same point of discussion.

On the question of reinvigorating South America, it was pointed out that it already had a structure but it needed to be made to work. The head of the Chilean association of crime writers, a well known writer, perhaps called Ramón Díez Eterovich, has participated at several round tables and also written about crime literature, could be approached to be Vice President South America. It was agreed that Piet should contact him.

All these points needed to be considered and reported back on at the next conference. A committee to carry this out was elected: Jutta, Bob, Emanuel and Fernando with the brief to look at proposals and present ideas and research at the next conference.

The Sub-committee to  assess and approach candidates for the Presidency would be: Susan Moody, Helga Anderle .
There being no further business, the meeting closed.

Janet Laurence

Corrections to the Minutes from Annette Meyers, President North American Branch

USA ­ Jim Weikart t: The North American International Crime Writers Association runs the Hammett Award for literary excellence in a crime novel. The main presentation of a statue (there is no cash element) takes place in a different venue each year. This year it will take place at a booksellers' convention. Four of the five short listed authors will be present.

North American IACW has 200-250 members, down from an initial 400 but now steady. [MEMBERSHIP WAS NEVER AN INITIAL 400.  CURRENT MEMBERSHIP IS 280, WHICH IS THE HIGHEST IT HAS EVER BEEN.]  In North America, the Mystery Writers Association is largest association but includes unpublished aspiring crime writers. The Edgars are the most prestigious prizes and Bouchercon, this year in Alaska, is the biggest annual crime convention. Then there is Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic based in Washington, and others in Florida, New England and Philadelphia, and more emerging.

Jeremiah Healey had published a new version of his How to Get Published in the US and How to Get Translated in America, based on his presentation to the Scandinavian Crime Writers. The North American IACW will host a dinner for any foreign member of AIEP visiting New York [WE WILL DISCUSS THIS OFFER AND WHETHER IT IS FEASIBLE AT THE IACW/NA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING
IN APRIL 2008.] or Philadelphia (offered by Deen Kogan, who has arranged three Bouchercons as well as numerous other conferences)