Cal Smyth

Cal Smyth is a crime novelist and screenwriter. He has had three novels published. His most recent is The Balkan Route (2017), the first in a series of Balkan Noir published by Fahrenheit Press. After being awarded a Literature Wales writers’ research bursary, he interviewed Serbian police inspectors and was assisted by a linguist with a bullet in her leg who provided insights into the Serbian underworld. The Woman with a Bullet in Her Leg is the next novel in the series. Cal has an MA in Screenwriting and adaptations of his Balkan Noir novels are in development as a TV series.

Cal’s writing is based on lived experiences. He has given talks on his research at crime fiction and creative writing conferences. As a member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the European Association of Creating Writing Programmes, he has written blogs for their websites. He has also edited crime novels and co-written a comedy about teaching English to foreign students. As a lecturer, he has taught creative writing and writing media to university students. To coincide with his RLF fellowship, Cal has written a social media thriller set on a university campus (serialised as an ebook via Crime Cymru).

Cal has lived in Serbia, Japan, Mexico and Italy. He now lives in Wales with his teenage son and they plan to turn their morning drive to school / work into a dashcam comedy. Cal is currently writing his next Balkan Noir novel, a novella and a film script.