The Noirwich lecture delivers powerful and pertinent views on the ever dynamic crime writing genre. Previous speakers have included Val McDermid, Megan Abbot, Arne Dahl, Yelena Moskovich and Margot Douaihy. To date the lectures have examined gender and violence, the power of fiction to illuminate facts around post-colonial natural resource exploitation, and new technologies. In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, US crime writer Attica Locke delivered the 2020 Noirwich Lecture, contributing to the global conversation on issues of race, power, prejudice, and white supremacy.

Margot Dauaihy delivered the 2023 Noirwich Lecture on the theme of crime narratives within the world of new technologies and multi-modality. This was illustrated by an original new work in a new digital form.