Critical Conversation: The Ethics of Crime Writing

Robert Rotenberg, Beverley McLachlin, Marcie Rendon and Ryan Gattis

2:00pm

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Outdoor Stage, June 4 at 2pm ET

TIFA’s most provocative conversation series returns exploring thrilling new themes for MOTIVE audiences. Each day of the Festival, authors and experts will come together to examine a new facet of the culture and politics that shape the world around us and the books we read.

At its best, crime fiction can reveal new perspectives on the harsh realities of crime and punishment. This conversation will invite crime fiction authors to talk about the choices they make in their own writing, as well as their ongoing work to better the criminal justice system. Author and criminal defence lawyer Robert Rotenberg will moderate a thought-provoking discussion with Marcie Rendon, author of the Cash Blackbear series, former Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin and PEN America Prison Writing Mentor Ryan Gattis. Panellists will explore the nuances and ethical implications of how crime, criminals and policing are represented in the genre.

Duration: 60 minutes

This event will be presented as part of the free, outdoor events at MOTIVE, taking place on the stage in the park and open to the general public.

This series is presented in partnership with the Provocation Ideas Festival.

Panel Discussion

Outdoor Stage, June 4 at 2pm ET

TIFA’s most provocative conversation series returns exploring thrilling new themes for MOTIVE audiences. Each day of the Festival, authors and experts will come together to examine a new facet of the culture and politics that shape the world around us and the books we read.

At its best, crime fiction can reveal new perspectives on the harsh realities of crime and punishment. This conversation will invite crime fiction authors to talk about the choices they make in their own writing, as well as their ongoing work to better the criminal justice system. Author and criminal defence lawyer Robert Rotenberg will moderate a thought-provoking discussion with Marcie Rendon, author of the Cash Blackbear series, former Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin and PEN America Prison Writing Mentor Ryan Gattis. Panellists will explore the nuances and ethical implications of how crime, criminals and policing are represented in the genre.

Duration: 60 minutes

This event will be presented as part of the free, outdoor events at MOTIVE, taking place on the stage in the park and open to the general public.

This series is presented in partnership with the Provocation Ideas Festival.

Panel Discussion

Featured Authors

Robert Rotenberg

Robert Rotenberg is the author of several bestselling novels, including Downfall, Old City Hall, The Guilty Plea, Stray Bullets, Stranglehold and Heart of the City. He is a criminal lawyer in Toronto with his firm Rotenberg, Shidlowski, Jesin. He is also a television screenwriter and a writing teacher. Visit him at RobertRotenberg.com or follow him on Twitter: @RobertRotenberg.

Read more about Robert Rotenberg

Beverley McLachlin

Beverley McLachlin was the Chief Justice of Canada from 2000 to 2017. She is the first woman to hold that position and the longest-serving Chief Justice in Canadian history. Her memoir, Truth Be Told, was an instant bestseller and won the prestigious Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize. Her debut novel, Full Disclosure, was a #1 national bestseller and was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Best First Crime Novel Award. In 2018, McLachlin became a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest honour within the Order. Denial, also an instant bestseller, is her latest novel.

Read more about Beverley McLachlin

Marcie Rendon is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, a Pinckley Prize-winning author, playwright, poet, freelance writer and a community arts activist. Rendon was awarded the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award for 2020. She is a speaker on Native issues, leadership and writing. Her second novel in her Cash Blackbear Mystery series, Girl Gone Missing, was nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Rendon was recognized as a 50 over 50 Change-maker by Minneapolis AARP and Pollen in 2018. She lives in Minneapolis.

Read more about Marcie Rendon

Ryan Gattis (ryangattis.com) is the author of Safe, Kung Fu High School, The System, and All Involved—which won the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Lire Award for Noir of the Year (France), and has been named one of the all-time “13 Most Essential L.A. Crime Books” (L.A. Times, 2023). He lives and writes in South Los Angeles, where he is a member of art collective UGLARworks, and a PEN America Prison Writing Mentor.

Read more about Ryan Gattis