Upcoming presentation on Carter Brown's work.

The State Library of New South Wales in Sydney announced the free online presentation "Cataloguing Carter Brown's Literary Legacy" on 3 Nov 2026 from 11A to noon local time (that would be 8P to 9P EST). The presenter will be Clara Sitbon, a senior lecturer in French and Francophone studies at the University of Sydney who specializes in crime fiction and has investigated the question of what Carter Brown (aka Alan Yates) actually wrote. Yates (1923–85), who emigrated from Britain to Australia, is often credited with writing more than 300 books and 75 novellas in genres such as mystery, western, science fiction, and horror. 

Newberry Library course, the Golden Age of Mystery.

Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch (Northwestern University) will be teaching the Newberry Library online course "The Golden Age of Mystery Fiction: Soft-Boiled and Hard-Boiled," which will run from Oct 14–Nov 11, 2026 and will "explore the role of popular culture in both exposing and containing societal anxieties and aspirations." Books expected to be covered are Vera Caspary, Laura; Agatha Christie, The Labors of Hercules and The 13 Problems; Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Boscombe Valley Mystery, "The Red Headed League," and "Silver Blaze"; and Dashiell Hammett, Red Harvest and The Maltese Falcon.  

Lester Dent's maritime detectives.

Lester Dent. The Dux, Chillicothe
(MO) Business College yearbook,
1923, p. 106

Over on the Black Gate blog, Will Murray discusses fictional detectives created by pulp writer Lester Dent (1904–59) who investigated maritime matters: Oscar Sail and Cyrus Peace.

Poe: The ballet.

The Illinois-based Ballet 5:8 has scheduled a national tour of its ballet, "The Curious Life of Edgar Allan Poe," which, as the company describes, "traces Poe's life through the short stories that made him immortal." Its creators are Ballet 5:8 artistic director Julianna Rubio Slager and choreographer Glorielle Niedfeldt. Upcoming cities include Albuquerque (October 2026); Baltimore (October 2026); and South Bend, IN (March 2027). The company's website offers thoughts on Poe's legacy by experts such as Richmond Poe Museum curator Chris Semtner.

New Clues CFP: Mid-twentieth-century American women crime writers.

There is a new call for papers for a Clues: A Journal of Detection theme issue on the work of mid–twentieth-century American female crime writers. The guest editors are Erin A. Smith (University of Texas at Dallas) and Clare Rolens (Palomar College). Proposals are due 15 January 2027, with full essays of 5,000 to 6,000 words due 1 August 2027.