Category: Events

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Simone Buchholz and Vanda Symon in conversation with Craig Sisterson to launch Hotel Cartagena and Bound

Orenda Books is delighted to celebrate publication of ‘Queen of Krimi’ Simone Buchholz’s Hotel Cartagena (translated by Rachel Ward) and award-winning New Zealand crime writer Vanda Symon’s Bound with an online launch.

Hotel Cartagena is the fourth in the international, bestselling Chastity Riley series, and it sees our protagonist trapped in a hotel bar, high above Hamburg Harbour, as gunmen take its occupants hostage. Buchholz is one of Germany’s finest literary crime writers, and her crackling prose and modern take on Noir have attracted legions of fans, including Graeme Macrae Burnet, who says, ‘Reading Buchholz is like walking on firecrackers … a truly unique voice in crime fiction’ and The Times: ‘Disgraced state prosecutor Chastity Riley chases round the dive bars of the port city pursuing and being pursued by a beguiling cast of cops, criminals and chums, delivering scalding one-liners as she goes’.

Bound is the fourth instalment of the unforgettable Sam Shephard series, shortlisted for the prestigious Ngaio Marsh Award in Vanda Symon’s native New Zealand. Set in Dunedin, this whip-smart, emotive thriller sees Sam go vigilante when her instincts tell her that her colleagues have got the wrong suspects behind bars in the case of a murdered local businessman. Sam’s personal problems drive her to act uncharacteristically, adding depth to this exceptional thriller. 

Simone Buchholz and Vanda Symon will be in conversation with New Zealand author and reviewer Craig Sisterson. Translator Rachel Ward will tune in for questions from guests.

This event is free to attend, however we do encourage you to support the authors in any way you can and Hotel Cartagena and Bound are available to order online now. Signed copies are available EXCLUSIVELY from our partner independent bookshop, Four Bears, in Reading: FourbearsBooksUK@outlook.com

To register for the event, email: cole@orendabooks.co.uk

You will receive a confirmation email once you register, and on the day of the event itself will be sent details for attendance. Please ensure you have downloaded Zoom. We will be taking questions on the day of the event via the chat function.

Simone Buchholz

Simone Buchholz was born in Hanau in 1972. At university, she studied philosophy and literature, worked as a waitress and a columnist, and trained to be a journalist at the prestigious Henri-Nannen-School in Hamburg. In 2016, Simone Buchholz was awarded the Crime Cologne Award and was runner-up in the German Crime Fiction Prize for Blue Night, which was number one on the KrimiZEIT Best of Crime List for months. The next in the Chastity Riley series, Beton Rouge, won the Radio Bremen Crime Fiction Award and Best Economic Crime Novel 2017. In 2019, Mexico Street, the follow-up in the series, won the German Crime Fiction Prize. She lives in Sankt Pauli, in the heart of Hamburg, with her husband and son. Follow Simone on Twitter @ohneKlippo and visit her website: simonebuchholz.com.

Vanda Symon

Vanda Symon lives in Dunedin, New Zealand. As well as being a crime writer, she has a PhD in science communication and is a re- searcher at the Centre for Paci c Health at the University of Otago. Overkill was shortlisted for the 2019 CWA John Creasey Debut Dagger Award and she is a three-time finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. Vanda produces and hosts Write On, a monthly radio show focusing on the world of books at Otago Access Radio. When she isn’t working or writing, Vanda can be found in the garden, or on the business end of a fencing foil.

Rachel Ward

Rachel Ward is a freelance translator of literary and creative texts from German and French to English. Having studied modern languages at the University of East Anglia, she went on to complete UEA’s MA in Literary Translation. Her published translations include Traitor by Gudrun Pausewang and Red Rage by Brigitte Blobel, and she is a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. She has previously translated Simone Buccholz’s Blue Night, Beton Rouge and Mexico Street for Orenda Books. Follow Rachel on Twitter @FwdTranslations, on her blog www.adiscounttickettoeverywhere.wordpress.com, and on her website: www.forwardtranslations.co.uk.

Craig Sisterson

Craig Sisterson is a lapsed lawyer from New Zealand who now lives in London and writes features for magazines and newspapers in several countries. In recent years, he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts and onstage at books festivals on three continents. Craig has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. His first non-fiction book, Southern Cross Crime, was published in 2020 by Oldcastle Books.

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Toronto International Festival of Authors presents NORDIC NOIR – with Agnes Ravatn & Thomas Enger

Agnes Ravatn and Thomas Enger will be taking part in ‘Nordic Noir with TIFA’ as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors. The details and how to watch are below:

When: 24th March – 7PM

How to sign up: Click HERE

What: Norwegian author and journalist Agnes Ravatn explores her latest psychological thriller, The Seven Doors, in conversation with Canadian author Elisabeth de Mariaffi. Six years after the success of The Bird Tribunal, Ravatn’s eagerly awaited new book follows the story of Nina, a university professor, and her disturbing investigation into the disappearance of her tenant. The Seven Doors is a harrowing novel of dark secrets and dangerous curiosity. Its quirky mystery and clever twists firmly establish Ravatn as a powerful new voice in Nordic Noir; a voice you won’t want to miss.

TIFA Presents: Chillingly Brilliant Nordic Noir

Uncover the secrets of Norwegian crime writing, in conversation with two of the genre’s best contemporary novelists. Agnes Ravatn and Thomas Enger will join the Toronto International Festival of Authors for two intriguing conversations about the fiercely popular genre, and what to expect from their latest books.

Dubbed “Nordic Noir” by fans outside of Scandinavia, the popular subgenre of Norwegian literature has been a growing fascination of readers around the world since the 1990s. Distinctive for its bleak landscapes, direct writing style and complex yet realistic protagonists, the genre contrasts the traditional “whodunit” murder mystery styles with chilling brilliance.

Today, Nordic Noir storytelling is well entrenched in popular culture, demonstrated by its ubiquity on bookshelves and on screens. Films and television series inspired by the genre include Shetland, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Bridge and many more.

 

When: 25th March – 7PM

How to sign up: Click HERE

What: International bestselling journalist-turned-author Thomas Enger presents Smoke Screen, the second instalment in the award-winning Blix and Ramm series, co-written with Jørn Lier Horst, in conversation with Canadian novelist Giles Blunt. When the mother of a missing two-year-old girl is seriously injured in a suspected terrorist attack in Oslo, crime-fighting duo Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the case. Settle in for an evening of crime fiction entertainment with one of Norway’s most exciting crime writers.

TIFA Presents: Chillingly Brilliant Nordic Noir

Uncover the secrets of Norwegian crime writing, in conversation with two of the genre’s best contemporary novelists. Agnes Ravatn and Thomas Enger will join the Toronto International Festival of Authors for two intriguing conversations about the fiercely popular genre, and what to expect from their latest books.

Dubbed “Nordic Noir” by fans outside of Scandinavia, the popular subgenre of Norwegian literature has been a growing fascination of readers around the world since the 1990s. Distinctive for its bleak landscapes, direct writing style and complex yet realistic protagonists, the genre contrasts the traditional “whodunit” murder mystery styles with chilling brilliance.

Today, Nordic Noir storytelling is well entrenched in popular culture, demonstrated by its ubiquity on bookshelves and on screens. Films and television series inspired by the genre include Shetland, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Bridge and many more.

Get cosy, brew a hot drink, and join us for these must-see virtual conversations.

 

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Matt Wesolowski in conversation with Catriona Ward to celebrate publication of Matt’s dark, thought-provoking new thriller Deity

 

Orenda Books is delighted to celebrate publication of Matt Wesolowki’s dark, thought-provoking new thriller Deity with an online launch.

The fourth in the critically acclaimed, award-winning Six Stories series, with a ‘true crime’ podcast-style narrative, Deity sees online journalist Scott King investigate mega popstar  Zach Crystal, who died in a suspicious fire at his northern Scottish retreat. Allegations of sexual abuse against young girls were levied at him before his demise, and yet his many legions of fans refuse to believe them. As always, the story veers into supernatural territory, in an exciting, genre-busting thriller. 

Titles in the Six Stories series have been longlisted for countless awards, including the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and Beast won the Capital Crime Independent Voice of the Year Award.

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Early praise for Deity includes:

A captivating, genre-defying book with hypnotic storytelling’ Rosamund Lupton

‘A chilling, wholly original and quite brilliant story. Deity is utterly compelling, and Matt Wesolowski is a wonderful writer’ Chris Whitaker

‘Matt Wesolowski taking the crime novel to places it’s never been before. Filled with dread, in the best possible way’ Joseph Knox

‘A gripping exposure of the underbelly of celebrity and obsessive fandom with lashings of supernatural horror  – Daisy Jones and the Six gone to the dark side. I couldn’t put it down’ Harriet Tyce

‘Matt Wesolowski is boldly carving his own uniquely dark niche in fiction’ Benjamin Myers

‘Dark, twisty and incredibly clever. Matt Wesolowski is an author to watch!’ C L Taylor

‘A dark, twisting rabbit hole of a novel. You won’t be able to put it down’ Francine Toon

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Matt Wesolowski will be joined by Catriona Ward, whose highly anticipated thriller, The Last House on Needless Street, will be published later this year, and the event will be masterfully guided by Dr Noir, Jacky Collins, crime-fiction expert and founder of Newcastle Noir.

This event is free to attend, however we do encourage you to support the authors in any way you can and Deity and The Last House on Needless Street are available to order online now. Signed copies of both books are available EXCLUSIVELY from our partner bookshop, Forum Books: HERE

To sign-up for the event, email – cole@orendabooks.co.uk

You will receive a confirmation email once you register, and on the day of the event itself will be sent details for attendance. Please ensure you have downloaded Zoom. We will be taking questions on the day of the event via the chat function.

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Matt Wesolowski

Matt Wesolowski is an author from Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the UK. He is an English tutor for young people in care. Matt started his writing career in horror, and his short horror fiction has been published in numerous UK- and US-based anthologies, such as Midnight Movie Creature, Selfies from the End of the World, Cold Iron and many more. His novella, The Black Land, a horror set on the Northumberland coast, was published in 2013.

Matt was a winner of the Pitch Perfect competition at the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in 2015. His debut thriller, Six Stories, was an Amazon bestseller in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia, and a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, and film rights were sold to a major Hollywood studio. A prequel, Hydra, was published in 2018 and became an international bestseller. Changeling, book three in the series, was published in 2019 and was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Book four, Beast, won the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Independent Voice Book of the Year award, 2020.

Follow Matt on Twitter @ConcreteKraken and on his website: https://linktr.ee/MattJW.

Catriona Ward

Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen and Morocco. Her debut Rawblood won Best Horror Novel at the 2016 British Fantasy Awards, and was a WHSmith Fresh Talent title. Little Eve won the Shirley Jackson Award, was a Guardian best book of 2018 and won the Best Horror Novel at the 2019 British Fantasy Awards. She lives in London and Devon.

Dr. Noir (Jacky Collins)

Dr Jacky Collins, formerly Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University in Literature, Film & TV and Spanish Language & Culture, currently based at Stirling University, is also known as Dr Noir. In 2014, Jacky established the International Crime Fiction Festival that is Newcastle Noir. More recently, she has been venturing into local radio, co-hosting a fortnightly crime fiction programme on SpiceFM, hosting online literary events with the Honey & Stag events team, and is part of the Corylus Books team, a new indie publisher of crime fiction in translation: from Romania, Iceland and beyond.

 

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Ragnar Jónasson in conversation with Ian Rankin, to launch Winterkill, the next instalment in the multi-million-copy bestselling Dark Iceland series

Orenda Books is delighted to announce an unforgettable night of international crime fiction – Iceland Noir meets Tartan Noir – to celebrate the launch of Ragnar Jónasson’s Winterkill, the next instalment in the multi-million-copy bestselling Dark Iceland series, translated from the French edition by David Warriner.

Ragnar Jónasson will be chatting to the one and only Ian Rankin, whose Song for the Dark Times is currently topping bestseller lists in the run-up to Christmas! The evening will be expertly chaired by Dr Jacky Collins … Dr Noir!

This event is free to attend, however we do encourage you to support the author in any way you can and Winterkill is available to order online now. Signed copies are available EXCLUSIVELY from our partner bookshop, Goldsboro Books: HERE

To register, email cole@orendabooks.co.uk

You will receive a confirmation email once you register, and on the day of the event itself will be sent details for attendance. Please ensure you have downloaded Zoom. We will be taking questions on the day of the event via the chat function.

Ragnar Jónasson is author of the international bestselling Dark Iceland series, which has sold over 1.5 million books worldwide and is published in over thirty countries. His debut, Snowblind, went to number one in the Kindle charts shortly after publication, and Nightblind (which also won the Mörda Dead Good Reader Award at Harrogate), Blackout, Rupture and Whiteout soon followed suit, hitting the number one spot around the world. Ragnar’s Hulda series has recently been optioned for the screen by CBS and has topped bestseller lists around the world. Ragnar was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, where he continues to work as a lawyer, and is co-founder of the Reykjavík international crime-writing festival, Iceland Noir. From the age of seventeen, Ragnar translated fourteen Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic. He has appeared on festival panels worldwide, and still lives in Reykjavík, with his wife and young daughters.

Ian Rankin is the multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller of over thirty novels and creator of John Rebus. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and have been adapted for radio, the stage and the screen. Rankin is the recipient of four Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards, including the Diamond Dagger, the UK’s most prestigious award for crime fiction. In the United States, he has won the celebrated Edgar Award and been shortlisted for the Anthony Award. In Europe, he has won Denmark’s Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the German Deutscher Krimipreis. He is the recipient of honorary degrees from universities across the UK, is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature, and has received an OBE for his services to literature.

Dr Jacky Collins, formerly Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University in Literature, Film & TV and Spanish Language & Culture, currently based at Stirling University, is also known as Dr Noir. In 2014, Jacky established the International Crime Fiction Festival that is Newcastle Noir. More recently, she has been venturing into local radio, co-hosting a fortnightly crime fiction programme on SpiceFM, hosting online literary events with the Honey & Stag events team, and is part of the Corylus Books team, a new indie publisher of crime fiction in translation: from Romania, Iceland and beyond.

Winterkill

‘The engaging Ari Thór returns in this darkly claustrophobic tale. Perfect mid-winter reading’ Ann Cleeves

‘A world-class crime writer’ Sunday Times

 ‘Jónasson is an automatic must-read for me … possibly the best Scandi writer working today’ Lee Child

‘Winterkill is a stunningly atmospheric story. Ari Thór Arason returns in this pitch-perfect, beautifully paced crime novel set in the blizzards of Icelandic springtime. Chilling and addictive. Ragnar Jónasson is at the top of his game. A master of the genre’ Will Dean

A Song for the Dark Times

‘He’s gone…’

When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it’s not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days.

Rebus fears the worst – and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect.

He wasn’t the best father – the job always came first – but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective?

As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast – and a small town with big secrets – he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn’t want to find…

‘Genius … Only great novels capture the spirit of the age. This is one of them’ The Times

‘This is Rankin at his best, Rebus at his best, storytelling that meets the moment and transcends all genres and expectations.’
Michael Connelly

In association with the Icelandic Embassy, London.

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Online launch of Roxanne Bouchard’s breathtakingly beautiful and dark thriller The Coral Bride – TUESDAY 17 NOVEMBER – 7PM

Orenda Books is delighted to celebrate publication of the ‘Queen of Quebec Suspense’ Roxanne Bouchard’s breathtakingly beautiful and dark thriller, The Coral Bride, translated by David Warriner, with an online launch.

Number One Bestselling Book in Quebec 2020!

Roxanne will be in conversation with Orenda Books editor and author, West Camel.

This event is free to attend, however we do encourage you to support the author in any way you can and Roxanne’s book is available to order online now. Signed copies are available EXCLUSIVELY from our partner bookshop, Berts Books: HERE

You will receive a confirmation email once you register, and on the day of the event itself will be sent details for attendance. Please ensure you have downloaded Zoom. We will be taking questions on the day of the event via the chat function.

Roxanne Bouchard is an award-winning French-Canadian playwright and author. Ten years or so ago, she decided it was time she found her sea legs. So she learned to sail, first on the St Lawrence River, before taking to the open waters off the Gaspé Peninsula. The local fishermen soon invited her aboard to reel in their lobster nets, and Roxanne saw for herself that the sunrise over Bonaventure never lies. Her fifth novel (her first to be translated into English) We Were the Salt of the Sea – first in the Detective Moralès series – was published in 2018 to resounding critical acclaim. Roxanne Bouchard lives in Quebec.

West Camel is born and bred in south London – and not the Somerset village with which he shares a name – West Camel worked as an editor in higher education and business before turning his attention to the arts and publishing. He has worked as a book and arts journalist, and was editor at Dalkey Archive Press, where he edited the Best European Fiction 2015 anthology, before moving to new press Orenda Books just after its launch. He currently combines his work as editor at Orenda Books with writing and editing a wide range of material for various arts organisations, including ghost-writing a New-Adult novel and editing The Riveter magazine for the European Literature Network. He has also written several short scripts, which have been produced in London’s fringe theatres, and was longlisted for the Old Vic’s 12 playwrights project. Attend is his first novel.

The Coral Bride

In this beautiful, lyrical sequel to the critically acclaimed We Were the Salt of the Sea, Detective Moralès finds that a seemingly straightforward search for a missing fisherwoman off Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula is anything but … ‘A haunting murder mystery about how human nature is every bit as dangerous and inscrutable as the sea … draws out its suspense to the very last moment’ Foreword Reviews

In conjunction with the Canadian Embassy, London and Quebec Reads.

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Online launch of Gunnar Staalesen’s seminal, award-winning Varg Veum thriller Fallen Angels – TUESDAY 24 NOVEMBER – 7PM

Orenda Books is thrilled to announce that one of the Fathers of Nordic Noir, Gunnar Staalesen, will be ‘going live’ to celebrate publication of his seminal, award-winning Varg Veum thriller, Fallen Angels, published in English for the first time.

Staalesen will be joined by his translator Don Bartlett, with proceedings led by Dr Jacky Collins (Dr Noir).

This event is free to attend, however we do encourage you to support the author in any way you can and Fallen Angels is available to order online now. Signed copies are available EXCLUSIVELY from our partner bookshop, Forum Books: HERE

You will receive a confirmation email once you register, and on the day of the event itself will be sent details for attendance. Please ensure you have downloaded Zoom. We will be taking questions on the day of the event via the chat function.

One of the fathers of Nordic Noir, Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1947. He made his debut at the age of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. He is the author of over twenty titles, which have been published in twenty-four coun­tries and sold over four million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, star­ring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim. Staalesen has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour). Where Roses Never Die won the 2017 Petrona Award for Nordic Crime Fiction, and Big Sister was shortlisted for the award in 2019. He lives with his wife in Bergen.

Don Bartlett completed an MA in Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia in 2000 and has since worked with a wide variety of Danish and Norwegian authors, including Jo Nesbo and Karl Ove Knausgaard. He has previously translated The Consorts of Death, Cold Hearts, We Shall Inherit the Wind, Where Roses Never Die, Wolves in the Dark, Big Sister and Wolves at the Door in the Varg Veum series.

Dr Jacky Collins, formerly Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University in Literature, Film & TV and Spanish Language & Culture, currently based at Stirling University, is also known as Dr Noir. In 2014, Jacky established the International Crime Fiction Festival that is Newcastle Noir. More recently, she has been venturing into local radio, co-hosting a fortnightly crime fiction programme on SpiceFM, hosting online literary events with the Honey & Stag events team, and is part of the Corylus Books team, a new indie publisher of crime fiction in translation: from Romania, Iceland and beyond.

Fallen Angels

When Bergen PI Varg Veum finds himself at the funeral of a former classmate on a sleet-grey December afternoon, he’s unexpectedly reunited with his old friend Jakob – guitarist of the once-famous 1960s rock band The Harpers – and his estranged wife, Rebecca, Veum’s first love. Their rekindled friendship is thrown into jeopardy by the discovery of a horrific murder, and Veum is forced to dig deep into his own adolescence and his darkest memories, to find a motive … and a killer. Tense, vivid and deeply unsettling, Fallen Angels is the spellbinding, award-winning thriller that secured Gunnar Staalesen’s reputation as one of the world’s foremost crime writers. ‘‘One of the finest Nordic novelists – in the tradition of Henning Mankell’ Barry Forshaw, Independent

In conjunction with the Norwegian Embassy in London, Norla and Norwegian Arts.