Exploring Detective Fiction - West Bridgford Library - Adult Learning

About this course

Do you enjoy detective stories? Would you like to learn about the history of detective fiction and discover new sleuths? If so, don your deerstalkers and join a published crime writer for an enjoyable exploration of detective fiction, from the early days of real crime and the introduction of the detective novel to modern crime thrillers. 

You’ll be guided through the history of this most popular genre. Whilst looking at the life and work of the most famous crime writers, we’ll also feature groundbreaking novels as you get to share your favourites, discussing different books and characters, including TV crime dramas.   

Beginning with the origins of detective fiction, from Edgar Allan Poe’s Dupin and his influence on that most famous of detectives, Sherlock Holmes, through the interwar years of Britain’s Golden Age, of Christie et al., and America’s Hardboiled PIs like Philip Marlowe, to today’s best-sellers, we will investigate the characteristics of the great detective novel in all its forms, and consider why the genre remains so widely read and appreciated. 

What will learners achieve by the end of the course? 

• You will have widened your knowledge of detective fiction and its many sub-genres, from the British ‘Golden Age’ and American hardboiled private eye novels, through to the silver screen, in a course that spans the centuries. Expect to have been introduced to new authors and to have engaged in some lively discussion. 

What skills or knowledge do learners already need to have to attend the course? 

• No previous knowledge is required.  

No prior reading is necessary. Suggested books include:  

•  ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’, ‘The Mystery of Marie Roget’ and ‘The Purloined Letter’ in Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe. 
• The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle. 
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. 
• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. 
• The Poet by Michael Connelly. 

Booking your place and fee information

If you are in receipt of certain benefits you will be offered the course for free, however if you have a financial barrier which may prevent you from enrolling on the course  please visit our webpage for further information  https://www.inspireculture.org.uk/skills-learning/funding-your-courses/

To secure your place on the course BOTH the following must be done:

• Complete the EVENTBRITE BOOKING.
• Complete our INSPIRE ONLINE ENROLMENT FORM for each person attending the course.

You should be redirected to the Inspire Online Enrolment Form after completing the Eventbrite booking.  If you are not redirected, please use the link supplied in the Eventbrite booking confirmation email.

To book and enrol on one of our courses, you must have been living in England and have been resident in the UK for the past 3 years.

Some exceptions may apply if you are living in England with evidence of the right to remain and are from an EEU/EEAU country (completion of a questionnaire will be required).

As we no longer receive funding for our ESFA-funded courses for learners living in the devolved areas listed below, full cost fees would apply to these courses if you live in these areas:

• Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield 
• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
• Greater London
• Greater Manchester
• Liverpool City Region
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland
• Tees Valley
• West of England
• West Midlands
• West Yorkshire

Any questions?

Check the FAQs page, or get in touch:

• By phone: 01623 677 200
• By email: learning@inspireculture.org.uk

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