William Boyle Coming to Circle and Square

The free event begins at 4 p.m. It is hosted by the University of Mississippi's Department of Writing and Rhetoric.

"Having accomplished author Bill Boyle share personal tools and expertise on writing gives teaching faculty, who are very often pouring into student writers, a chance to pour into themselves," said LaToya Faulk, lecturer in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. "We also can't forget about Oxford locals who may be wrestling with writing projects of their own, or just want to be in community with writers and readers."

Boyle has been an instructor in the Ole Miss department since 2012.

"What drew me to crime fiction and continues to draw me in, both as a writer and reader," Boyle said, "is looking at the lives of desperate characters making bad decisions, doing the wrong things to stay afloat or out of some desire for revenge or retribution, letting their instincts lead them down crooked paths. To me, that's what makes the best of crime fiction so universal."

A Brooklyn native, Boyle is the author of three short stories – "Death, Don't Have No Mercy," "Something Bad Happened to a Clown" and "New York Blues Redux" – and the novels "Gravesend," "Everything Is Broken," "The Lonely Witness," "A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself," "City of Margins" and "Shoot the Moonlight Out."

His stories have appeared in "Lawyers, Guns and Money: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Warren Zevon," and "The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023."

His books have been nominated for the Hammett Prize, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award in the United Kingdom and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France, and they have been included on best-of lists in The Washington Post, CrimeReads and more.

"I'm interested in the folks who are fighting to survive, to get out or break free, who are fed up with losing and want a shot at winning at any cost," Boyle said. "In this workshop, we'll talk about creating urgent situations in crime fiction, and we'll also discuss the art of desperation as a craft tool."