Dead Write, the Bangalore Literature Festival’s crime-fiction festival, happening in Bengaluru this May with two days dedicated to mysteries, espionage and psychological thrillers. Featuring bestselling authors, journalists and law enforcement voices, the festival explores the art of crime storytelling through panels, discussions and immersive experiences like a murder mystery dinner.
The city may know the Bangalore Literature Festival for its sprawling conversations on books, politics, poetry and culture, but this May, it is taking a much darker turn. Enter Dead Write, the festival’s new crime-literature vertical dedicated entirely to the deliciously unsettling world of mysteries, murder, espionage and psychological suspense. Held on May 23 and 24 at the Bangalore International Centre in Domlur, Dead Write promises two days of sharp conversations for readers who prefer their stories with secrets, suspects and a healthy body count.
Positioned as “a genre festival” by the Bangalore Literature Festival, Dead Write leans fully into the aesthetics and intrigue of crime writing. The festival describes itself as a gathering for lovers of police procedurals, whodunnits, espionage thrillers and noir storytelling — essentially a playground for anyone who has ever stayed up too late saying, “just one more chapter.” Unlike broader literary festivals where crime fiction often occupies only a few panels, Dead Write puts the genre centre stage, creating a dedicated space for conversations about how mystery narratives are imagined, written and consumed.
Readers can expect sessions with bestselling authors, journalists, editors and even real-life law enforcement figures whose experiences blur the line between fact and fiction, reflecting the many faces of crime storytelling. Among the featured names is Amit Lodha, the IPS officer and author of ‘Bihar Diaries’, who will speak about policing beyond the headlines. Celebrated novelist Anuja Chauhan, known for her wit and chaos in contemporary fiction before stepping into crime writing with ‘Club You to Death’, is also part of the festival. Meanwhile, acclaimed writer Anita Nair brings her long engagement with noir fiction to the lineup, while thriller writer Aroon Raman joins discussions around crafting compelling suspense narratives.
The programming is designed to move beyond merely celebrating crime novels. Sessions explore the mechanics of storytelling, from understanding investigative realities and writing believable detectives to examining the collision of journalism, policing and fiction. There is even a murder mystery dinner experience, leaning into the immersive side of crime fandom.
Crime fiction has long occupied a curious place in reading habits: wildly popular yet often treated as genre entertainment rather than literary conversation. Dead Write seems intent on changing that, making space for the messy, thrilling and psychologically rich worlds of crime writing — a suspicious clue at a time.
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