Sometimes genre fiction gets a bad rap for being “less than literary.” Nothing could be further from the truth. But, believe it or not, as popular as crime fiction is, it still retains a certain stigma to many readers. Award-winning author and Mystery Writers of America, New York member S.J. Rozan, will endeavor to correct this misconception at the Madison Public Library in Madison, N.J., next week, on July 20, as part of the library’s free Summer Seminar Series. For more than 30 years, Madison Public Library has provided a wildly popular series of free academic lectures each summer. Targeted at a local audience with a desire to learn more about history, politics, and culture, these free lectures offer something for everyone. Past topics have included Manhattan Bridges, New Jersey Gardens, and the music of Scott Joplin.
Rozan’s lecture, “Categorization and Its Discontents: Why Genre Matters,” will be held Thursday, July 20, at 10:30 a.m., in the library’s Chase Auditorium, 39 Keep Street, Madison, N.J. The event is free and open to the public. Further details and contact information can be found by clicking here.
This year Jeffrey Payton, the library’s program coordinator, decided to offer a lecture on the mystery genre and he reached out to the Mystery Writers of America for input. “Now that we are in our 33rd year of our summer seminars, I found that there really hadn’t been any seminars focusing on literature, much less books, fiction, reading, or mysteries,” says Payton. “So this year I wanted to rectify that slight and end the fiction drought. We decided to focus on mystery.” Mysteries are very popular with the local community as proven by regular attendance at the library’s Wednesday Film Nights, which often feature mystery and film noir, and its annual cozy mystery reading series, Bones & Scones.
Recently selected by Mystery Tribune as one of the 25 best female crime fiction authors of the past 50 years, Rozan is the perfect choice for this presentation. Fortunately for the library, she accepted the invitation and will be able to offer her very passionate perspective on this issue. “To be able to get S.J.Rozan, a multi-award winner and an articulate speaker, to present a seminar, well, we feel very fortunate, and we look forward to a successful and popular addition to the seminar series,” says Payton. “I would like to see this open the door to more literary and publishing opportunities for seminars and other programs.”
—Robert J. Daniher
Robert J. Daniher lives in New Jersey where he works as an IT Support Technician for Madison Public Library and Library of The Chathams. He has been a member of MWA since 2009 and assists the MWA-NY Library Committee with planning author events at North Jersey libraries. His short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine for the Mysterious Photograph Contest and in the annual Deadly Ink Short Story Collections of 2007 and 2008.