Oklahoma Business

Full minutes of the June 4 and 5 meetings of AIEP in Oklahoma will be provided at this site later, but highlights follow.

President's Report

President J. Madison Davis reported on the progress with the website and delegates got a glimpse of the new website, designed by Roland van Wanrooy who also is the webmaster of the Genootschap de Vlaamse Misdaadauteurs (the Flemish Crime Writers Association). Members are encouraged to submit articles and commentary to Davis for inclusion on the website. All opinions and languages are welcomed.

Davis also created a Facebook group (“International Association of Crime Writers”) at which members can post messages, links to interesting articles about crime writing and the state of publishing, and can comment on the same.

Davis recommended Indian Country Noir, published by Akashic Books, and the list of many international noir anthologies published by Akashic. This is a very exciting series which promotes not just short stories, but the international dimension of crime writing.
Davis congratulated Bob Cornwell for his excellent work on the Crime Scene, profiling crime writing country by country. It is currently published by Crime Time, online at www.crimetime.co.uk. 

The delegates reported on the branches they were representing (Switzerland, Italy, the United Kingdom, the U.S., Japan, and Latin America) and the German report was read out loud.

Greek Crime Writing

The report from Chryssa Spiropoulo and Kostas Kalfopoulos about the promising efforts to organize a Greek branch was read and their list of Greek crime writers and their books was copied for the delegates. The delegates all expressed enthusiasm for the founding of a Greek branch and the hope that we will be meeting Greek writers at future meetings. Davis thanked Jutta Motz for her efforts to connect with the writing community of Greece.

Zurich 2011

At the last meeting in Reykjavik, Zurich was selected as the site for the 2011 meeting of AIEP. Plans are well under way. Jutta Motz detailed the many activities scheduled and the hope for a big turnout of AIEP members. This will take place on the weekend before Pentecost, June 9-12.

Toronto 2012

Cheryl Freedman of the annual Canadian conference Bloody Words offered to host the 2012 meeting of AIEP in Toronto. 2012 is a congress year, meaning that a new president and officers will be elected. AIEP’s meeting and activities will be coordinated with Bloody Word’s activities.

Special Meeting in Japan

Finally, Ken and Harue Matsuzaka have graciously offered to host AIEP’s first meeting in Asia. This would be held in February 2012 in Japan and would be an unofficial meeting for business purposes. The concept was strongly endorsed, giving AIEP members an opportunity to visit the third largest book market in the world and one of the most prominent crime-writing nations.