Noir at the Bar Twin Cities July 2015

by Kristi Belcamino

I love Noir at the Bar.

Last Thursday I got to participate in my third Noir at the Bar event.

One of the best parts of Noir is meeting other crime fiction writers from across the country.

This go round I was lucky enough to read with Anthony Neil Smith, Eric Beetner, Paul Garth, and Kent Gowran.

This event, like most Noirs in the Twin Cities, was organized by Dan and Kate Malmon and Paul von Stoetzel, who was MC, and showed an outstanding short film based on Dennis Tafoya's writing.

Subtext Books was there selling our wares and supporting us, as usual.

The one drawback: After asking him on Twitter, Anthony Bourdain did not come visit Neil Smith at Noir. Disappointed, Smith had the crowd sign his Bourdain book instead.

The biggest surprise: Hot Indian Foods, responded to mine and Smith's pleas on Twitter to bring us Indurritos at the event in exchange for signed copies of our books! Best food I've had in months and now one of my new favorite restaurants. They rock!


Here is evidence.

Despite how it appears, I was not reading to an empty bar.

Eric Beetner in the house from Los Angeles

Dan Malmon

The incomparable Anthony Neil Smith

Hawking our wares and doing our John Hancock's afterward

Kent Gowran up from Chicago for his second Twin Cities Noir

Paul Garth reading at his first Noir in from Nebraska

Italians like to speak with our hands

With the president of the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime, Rhonda Ghilliland

Jay from Hot Indian Foods. The spinach paneer indurrito he brought rocked my world!

John Rector had to cancel at the last minute 

so Paul von Stoetzel read his story with help from Dan Malmon

Our pre-Noir at the Bar lunch included a field trip to visit Pat at Once Upon a Crime