THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE
ICELAND NOIR 2022
Bernardine Evaristo / Richard Osman / Marian Keyes
Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Eliza Reid / Mark Billingham / Sjón
Paula Hawkins / Sophie Hannah / Abir Mukherjee
Nita Prose / Ólafur Darri Ólafsson / Ruth Ware
Ryan Tubridy / Lucy Foley
AJ Finn / Clare Mackintosh / Liz Nugent
WITH
Aliya Ali-Afzal / Sara Blædel / María Elísabet Bragadóttir
CJ Cooke / Kamilla Einarsdottir / David Fennell
Íris Tanja Flygenring / Auður Jónsdóttir / Jean Kwok
Jónína Leósdóttir / Sverrir Norland / Sólveig Pálsdóttir
Sarah Pinborough / William Ryan / Harriet Tyce / Nina von Staffeldt
Martyn Waites / Wendy Walker / Kevin Wignall / Trevor Wood
HOSTED BY
Eva Björg Ægisdóttir | Óskar Guðmundsson
Ragnar Jónasson | Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
With more to be announced!
Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Eliza Reid / Mark Billingham / Sjón
Paula Hawkins / Sophie Hannah / Abir Mukherjee
Nita Prose / Ólafur Darri Ólafsson / Ruth Ware
Ryan Tubridy / Lucy Foley
AJ Finn / Clare Mackintosh / Liz Nugent
WITH
Aliya Ali-Afzal / Sara Blædel / María Elísabet Bragadóttir
CJ Cooke / Kamilla Einarsdottir / David Fennell
Íris Tanja Flygenring / Auður Jónsdóttir / Jean Kwok
Jónína Leósdóttir / Sverrir Norland / Sólveig Pálsdóttir
Sarah Pinborough / William Ryan / Harriet Tyce / Nina von Staffeldt
Martyn Waites / Wendy Walker / Kevin Wignall / Trevor Wood
HOSTED BY
Eva Björg Ægisdóttir | Óskar Guðmundsson
Ragnar Jónasson | Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
With more to be announced!
Aliya Ali-Afzal’s debut novel Would I Lie to You has been described as ‘a moral dilemma everyone can relate to’ by Clare Mackintosh, ‘a page-turner’ by Adele Parks (Platinum) and ‘a nail-biter all the way’ by The Toronto Star. Aliya is studying for an MA Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London and has a BA in Russian and German from UCL. After working as an Executive MBA Career Coach in London for 20 years, she decided to take her own advice and pursue her dream of becoming a writer. Her writing has been longlisted for The Bath Novel Award, Mslexia Novel Award, The Primadonna Prize and The Mo Prize Hachette UK. Aliya has lived in London all her life since moving there from Pakistan as a young child.
Mark Billingham was born and brought up in Birmingham. Having worked for some years as an actor and more recently as a TV writer and stand-up comedian his first crime novel was published in 2001. He is the author of the Tom Thorne series of crime novels as well as several stand-alones. Mark lives in London with his wife and two children. He is currently writing his next novel.
Sara Blaedel is a Danish author of crime thriller novels. She is best known for her number one bestselling Louise Rick series. Sara is the daughter of Leif Blaedel, a journalist, and Annegrethe Nissen, an actress. She was born in Copenhagen, and grew up in Hvalso, Denmark. Sara worked as the graphic co-ordinator at Denmark’s Gyldendal publishing house before she began working as a journalist, and worked on several television series a presenter, researcher, project manager, and editor before becoming a novelist. Her books are published in thirty-eight countries. In 2014 Sara was voted Denmark’s most popular novelist for the fourth time. She is also a recipient of the Golden Laurel, Denmark’s most prestigious literary award. She lives in New York City.
María Elísabet Bragadóttir has a degree in philosophy form the University of Iceland, has written op-eds for Fréttablaðið newspaper, read her short stories for 101 Radio and written for the National Broadcaster's cultural radio programme Víðsjá. María's first book is the short story collection Herbergi í öðrum heimi (A Room in Another World) published by Una Publishing House in 2020 to critical and popular acclaim. María is currently working on her second book, a novel. She lives in Reykjavík.
CJ Cooke is a bestselling author of gothic novels. Her latest novel The Lighthouse Witches explores the history of witchcraft in Scotland. Also an academic at the University of Glasgow, she lives in the countryside with her husband and four children.
Kamilla Einarsdóttir was born and raised in Reykjavik. The author of two novels, Kamilla was nominated for the prestigious Icelandic Literary prize in 2021. Her first novel was adapted for the stage by the National Theatre of Iceland. Currently working as librarian, but with a varied career history which includes a strip club and the Post Office, Kamilla is also extremely skilled at cartwheels, but politely requests that you do not ask her to do them when she is drunk, because it ended in chaos last time.
Bernardine Evaristo is the award-winning author of eight books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other made her the first Black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019, as well winning the Fiction Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 2020, where she also won Author of the Year, and the Indie Book Award. She also became the first woman of colour and Black British writer to reach No.1 in the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020. Her writing spans reviews, essays, drama and radio, and she has edited and guest-edited national publications, including The Sunday Time's Style magazine. Her other awards and honours include an MBE in 2009. Bernardine is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in London with her husband.
David Fennell was born and raised in Belfast before leaving for London at the age of eighteen with £50 in one pocket and a dog-eared copy of Stephen King’s The Stand in the other. He jobbed as a chef, waiter and bartender for several years before starting a career in writing for the software industry. David is the author of the Sleeper series of books, the second of which (The Red Storm) was shortlisted for the 2018 Wilbur Smith Prize. His bestselling crime novel The Art of Death was published in 2021. The follow up, See No Evil, will be published in April 2022. He is married and and lives in Brighton.
Íris Tanja Í Flygenring is an Icelandic actress. She is best known for her performance as Ása in the Netflix TV series Katla. She graduated from the Iceland University of the Arts in 2016. In 2021, she appeared as one of the main characters the third season of Trapped.
A. J. Finn lived in England for many years before returning to his native New York. His debut novel, The Woman in the Window, has been published in more than forty languages and sold millions of copies worldwide. In 2021 it was adapted for the screen in a huge film starring Amy Adams and Gary Oldman.
Lucy Foley is a British novelist, most well known for her crime thrillers which include The Paris Apartment, The Hunting Party and The Guest List. After studying English Literature at Durham University and University College London, Foley became a fiction editor, penning her debut novel The Book of Lost and Found in 2015 alongside her day job. Two more novels followed before she achieved the breakout success of her first crime thriller, The Hunting Party. The Paris Apartment, set in a sinister Montmartre apartment block, is out now.
Sophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling crime fiction writer. Her psychological thriller The Carrier won the Specsavers National Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year in 2013. Sophie is the author of the bestselling Poirot continuation mysteries. The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives have been adapted for television as Case Sensitive, starring Olivia Williams and Darren Boyd. Sophie is also a bestselling poet who has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE and A-level. Sophie is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. She lives in Cambridge with her family.
Paula Hawkins worked as a journalist for fifteen years before turning her hand to fiction. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, Paula moved to London in 1989 and has lived there ever since. Her first thriller, The Girl on the Train, has been a global phenomenon, selling 23 million copies worldwide. Published in over forty languages, it has been a No.1 bestseller around the world and was a No.1 box office hit film starring Emily Blunt. Into the Water was also a global No.1 bestseller, spending twenty weeks in the Sunday Times HB fiction Top 10 and selling 4 million copies worldwide.
Katrin Jakobsdóttir has been the Prime Minister of Iceland since 2017. Katrin also has an MA in Icelandic literature, having written her thesis on the crime-writer Arnaldur Indriðason, and has been a friend of Iceland Noir since its inception. Katrin is currently writing a crime novel with one of our festival founders, and it will be published globally by Penguin Random House.
Auður Jónsdóttir is a writer and independent journalist. Her first work of fiction appeared in print in 1997, and a year later her novel Stjórnlaus lukka was nominated for the Icelandic Literature Prize. Since then Auður has published fiction for children and adults, as well as pioneering work which seeks to describe the environment of the media in Iceland with a diverse approach. Her books have enjoyed much acclaim from readers and critics and she has received many awards, including being nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2006 and 2013. Auður has also written about her grandfather, the Nobel Prize for Literature winner Halldór Laxness. Her books have been published in many languages.
Marian Keyes is a phenomenon. The multi-million copy, internationally bestselling author of some of the most widely loved, genre-defying novels of the past thirty years – such as Rachel’s Holiday, Anybody Out There and Grown Ups – has millions of fans around the world. They are irresistibly drawn by her warmth and wit, fearless honesty, relatable characters and relationships, and sheer storytelling magic. Not only has Marian inspired and entertained countless readers, but also the next generation of writers too. Marian also uses her position to raise some of the most challenging issues of our time, including addiction, immigration, depression, domestic violence and the Repeal the Eighth campaign. In addition to her novels, Marian has written two collections of journalism, as well as been the star of the second series of her hit show Between Ourselves aired on BBC Radio 4 at the start of 2021. Again Rachel, the sequel to her ground-breaking novel Rachel’s Holiday, will be Marian’s fifteenth novel.
Jean Kwok is the award-winning, New York Times and international bestselling author of Girl in Translation, Mambo in Chinatown, and Searching for Sylvie Lee, which was a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club pick, a Belletrist pick, and an instant New York Times bestseller. Her work has been published in twenty countries and is taught in schools across the world. She has been selected for numerous honors, including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award, an Orange New Writers title and the Sunday Times Short Story Award international shortlist. She immigrated from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when she was five and worked in a Chinatown clothing factory for much of her childhood. She received her bachelor's degree from Harvard University and earned an MFA from Columbia University. She currently lives in the Netherlands.
Jónína Leósdóttir is an Icelandic author and playwright. She studied modern languages and Latin and has a BA-degree in English and Literature. She has written 19 books, fiction and non-fiction, many short-stories and plays that have been broadcast by RÚV, the national broadcaster in Iceland, both on television and radio. In 2013, Jónína published a memoir called “Við Jóhanna” (Jóhanna and I) about her relationship with Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, former Prime Minister of Iceland. The couple fell in love in 1985 and had a turbulent relationship in the closet for 15 years, before setting up home together in 2000. They later married and Jóhanna became the first openly LGBT+ leader in the world. Jónína Leósdóttir has received awards for her work – for poetry, short-stories and books for young adults. She was instrumental in establishing The Icelandic Women’s Literary Prize in 2007 and is now an honorary member of the association that awards the prize. In 2016 Jónína “turned to crime” with the Edda crime series, five novels about a mature amateur sleuth. And 2021 saw the first book in a new series about Adam, a British expat psychologist, and his ex-wife, Soffía, who is a detective with the Icelandic police. The English language publishing rights to Jónína’s latest crime novel has been secured by Corylus Books.
Clare Mackintosh has sold more than two million copies of her books sold worldwide, and is the multi-award-winning author of I Let You Go. Both Clare’s second and third novels, I See You and Let Me Lie, were number one Sunday Times bestsellers.Clare’s latest thriller, Hostage, was published in June 2021. Together, Clare’s books have been published in more than forty countries. Clare is patron of the Silver Star Society, a charity which supports parents experiencing high-risk or difficult pregnancies. She lives in North Wales with her husband and their three children.
Abir Mukherjee is the bestselling author of the Wyndham & Banerjee series of crime novels set in 1920s India. His debut, A Rising Man, won the CWA Endeavour Dagger for best historical crime novel of 2017, was shortlisted for the MWA Edgar for best novel, was a Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month, and Waterstones Thriller of the Month. His second novel, A Necessary Evil, won the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing, was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of 2018, and was featured on ITV as a Zoe Ball Book Club pick. Abir grew up in Scotland and lives in Surrey with his wife and two sons.
Liz Nugent has worked in Irish film, theater, and television for most of her adult life. She is an award-winning writer of radio and television drama and has written critically acclaimed short stories both for children and adults, as well as the bestselling novels Unraveling Oliver and Lying in Wait.
Sverrir Norland is an Icelandic author, translator, publisher, and public speaker. His latest book is Stríð og kliður (War & Noise, 2021), a personal essay on nature, technology, and the human imagination, which was met with great acclaim in his native country. Sverrir has also published two novels with Forlagið, Iceland’s leading publishing house: Kvíðasnillingarnir (Masters of Anxiety) and Fyrir allra augum (In Plain Sight). He runs a small publishing house called AM forlag, and has translated, from both French and English, books by Maurice Sendak, Tomi Ungerer, Pénélope Bagieu, and Carson Ellis, among others, as well as making programs for radio and TV.
Richard Osman is an author, producer and television presenter. His first two novels, The Thursday Murder Club, and The Man Who Died Twice were multi-million-copy number one bestsellers around the world. The third book in The Thursday Murder Club series will be here to cause even more trouble in 2022. He lives in London with his partner and Liesl the cat.
Sólveig Pálsdóttir worked in theater, radio and taught literature and Icelandic in secondary school before she started writing fiction. This year, it has been ten years since her first book was published, to great acclaim. Sólveig has written six crime novels and one memoir. All the books have reached the top ten bestseller lists and have been very popular with readers. Sólveig received Blóðdropinn in 2020 when Fjötrar (e. Silenced 2021) was awarded Best Crime Novel of the Year and the book was also Iceland's contribution to the Glass Key, the Nordic crime fiction award. Sólveig's writing style is considered to be characterized by strong character creation, well-thought-out plots and a instinctive feeling for Icelandic society and nature. The following books by Sólveig have been published in English by Corylus Books: The Fox 2020, Silenced 2021 and Harm (working title) will be out 2022.
Sarah Pinborough is a New York Times bestselling and Sunday Times Number one and Internationally bestselling author who is published in over 30 territories worldwide. Having published more than 25 novels across various genres, her recent books include Behind Her Eyes, now a smash hit Netflix limited series, Dead To Her, now in development with Amazon Studios, and 13 Minutes and The Death House in development with Compelling Pictures. Sarah lives in the historic town of Stony Stratford, the home of the Cock and Bull story, with her dog Ted. Her next novel, Insomnia, is out in 2022.
Nita Prose is a longtime editor, serving many bestselling authors and their books. She lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is only moderately clean.
Eliza Jean Reid, the First Lady of Iceland, was born in 1976 in Ottawa, Canada. She moved to Iceland in 2003. Madame Reid holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Trinity College, University of Toronto, where she held the position of Head of College in her final year. Her critically acclaimed new book, Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World, explores what it is that makes Iceland a world leader for gender equality.
William Ryan is the author of six novels, including the Captain Korolev series set in 1930s Moscow, The Constant Soldier and A House of Ghosts. They have been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Irish Fiction Award, the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year and the Crime Writer Association’s Steel, Historical and New Blood Daggers. His latest novel, The Winter Guest, is set in the Irish War of Independence and was described by Ann Cleeves as “a stunning book, beautifully written”.
Sjón is Iceland’s most internationally celebrated contemporary literary author. He won the Nordic Council's Literary Prize for his novel The Blue Fox (the Nordic countries' equivalent of the Man Booker Prize) and the novel From The Mouth Of The Whale was shortlisted for both the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The novel Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was received the Icelandic Literary Price. CoDex 1962, a novel in three books, was published in Iceland in 2016 to great acclaim.
As a poet, librettist and lyricist, he has published nine poetry collections, written four opera libretti and lyrics for various artists. In 2001 he was nominated for an Oscar for his lyrics in the film Dancer In The Dark.
His latest novel Red Milk has recently been published in English and has been received wonderful reviews across the board. Sjón's novels have been published in thirty five languages. He is the president of Icelandic PEN and lives in Reykjavik with his wife and two children. Sjón frequently collaborates with the singer Björk and has performed with The Sugarcubes as Johnny Triumph. Sjón has also had huge success recently as a screenwriter. He co wrote the 2021 Icelandic film Lamb, starring Noomi Repace, and in the summer The Northman, which he co-wrote with Robert Eggers, will be released. It stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe.
As a poet, librettist and lyricist, he has published nine poetry collections, written four opera libretti and lyrics for various artists. In 2001 he was nominated for an Oscar for his lyrics in the film Dancer In The Dark.
His latest novel Red Milk has recently been published in English and has been received wonderful reviews across the board. Sjón's novels have been published in thirty five languages. He is the president of Icelandic PEN and lives in Reykjavik with his wife and two children. Sjón frequently collaborates with the singer Björk and has performed with The Sugarcubes as Johnny Triumph. Sjón has also had huge success recently as a screenwriter. He co wrote the 2021 Icelandic film Lamb, starring Noomi Repace, and in the summer The Northman, which he co-wrote with Robert Eggers, will be released. It stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe.
Ryan Tubridy, host of The Late Late Show, is one of Ireland’s leading and best-loved television and radio presenters. His shows include Radio Telefís Éireann’s The Tubridy Show, which examines all aspects of Irish politics, society and culture, and the television chat show Tubridy Tonight on RTÉ One. Ryan is also the author of the books JFK In Ireland, Patrick and the President and The First Christmas Jumper.
Harriet Tyce was born and brought up in Edinburgh. She did a degree in English before working as a criminal barrister for nearly ten years. After a career break to have children she did an MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at the University of East Anglia where she wrote her first psychological thriller, Blood Orange. She is also the author of The Lies You Told and her new book, It Ends At Midnight, will be published on 14 April this year.
Nina von Staffeldt has lived, worked and traveled all over Greenland since 1997 with assignments for The Self Rule Government as well as within the tourism sector. She divides her time between writing and undertaking tasks for Danish Government offices and in Greenland. Her first novel Frosne Beviser (Frozen Evidence) was published in May 2016 and awarded ‘Best Danish Debut Crime Novel’, and this book as well as the sequels have been very well received by Danish and Greenlandic media and readers alike in both countries. The books are translated into other Nordic languages, including Icelandic.
Wendy Walker is the USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten, Emma In the Night, The Night Before, Don’t Look for Me, and American Girl. Her work has been published in 23 foreign languages and optioned for both film and television. Prior to writing, she worked as a lawyer and investment banker, and trained for competitive figure skating. Wendy lives in Connecticut with her family.
Ruth Ware is an international number one bestseller. Her thrillers In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, The Death of Mrs Westaway, The Turn of the Key and One by One have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the Sunday Times and New York Times. Her books have been optioned for both film and TV, and she is published in more than 40 languages. Ruth lives near Brighton with her family.
Martyn Waites is a crime writer from the North East of England. He has been nominated for every major British crime writing award and won the Grand Prix de Roman Noir Etranger for Born Under Punches. He has also written eight internationally bestselling thrillers under the name Tania Carver. His most recent series is set in Cornwall and comprises The Old Religion, The Sinner and The Gravedigger’s Song.
Kevin Wignall's novels for adults and young adults have been published in more than twenty countries and shortlisted for numerous awards. His work has been adapted for film as well as being used as inspiration for pop songs, paintings and body art. Born in Brussels, he currently lives in England, but travels extensively.
Trevor Wood is an ex-sailor, playwright and journalist. His first novel The Man on the Street, set in Newcastle’s homeless community, won the CWA’s New Blood Dagger and the Crimefest Debut Prize in 2020. It was also shortlisted for the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year and has been optioned for TV by World Productions, the makers of Line of Duty. It was followed by the highly-acclaimed One Way Street. The final book in the trilogy, Dead End Street, was released earlier this year.