Salem Meets the Noir

Salem Meets the Noir 2026 is the first U.S. conference dedicated to Hispanic Noir across literature, TV, and film. 

This interdisciplinary conference aims to bring together scholars, writers, filmmakers, and students to share their interest and passion for the fictional criminal genre through their participation in panels, roundtables, workshops, film screenings, and curated cultural events in historic Salem.

Keynote Speakers

Susana Martín Gijón (Spain) award-winning novelist and screenwriter; creator of police officer Annika Kaunda and Seville homicide inspector Camino Vargas.

Carmen Amato, a CIA veteran turning real-life danger and deception into crime fiction, author of the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco and longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.

Wilfredo Mattos Cintrón, creator of Isabelo Andújar, the detective in most of his novels, who only takes on special cases while reflecting on the political reality of Puerto Rican history.

Call for Submissions

Submission deadline: January 23, 2026

Notification of acceptance: January 30, 2026

Topics of Interest (include but are not limited to)

• Noir and the Gothic

• The Terrain of Rural Noir 

• Motherhood,  family, and the Noir Domestic 

• Noir, colonization, and Post Colonial Crime

• Noir in the Age of Global Neoliberalism

• Gendered Investigations and Female Agency

• Justice Reimagined: Interrogating Law, Order, and Justice in Noir
  Worlds 

• Queer identities and LGBTQ+ Themes in Noir

• Border Spaces and Transnational Crime

• Adaptation Across Media (Film, TV, Graphic Novels, Podcasts)

• Masculinities in Crises and Gender Fluid Reconfigurations in Noir

• Noir and Economic Trauma

Presentation Types

• Individual papers: 20 minutes

• Roundtables / panels: 3–4 participants 

Submission Guidelines

• Abstract: individual paper: max. 250 words / Panel: 200–300-word panel

• Bio: max. 150 words (affiliation, role, 2–3 key publications or works, and contact info)

Submit your Proposal

More information

Contact Salemeetsthenoir@gmail.com 

Organizers are seeking publication venues for selected papers of the conference.