A galaxy of crime fiction writers are set to appear at Mareel this November for Shetland Noir, Shetland’s first ever festival of crime fiction, including local author Marsali Taylor, and Shetland’s very own Ann Cleeves.
As well as the six special guest authors, Arne Dahl, Hakan Nesser, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Alex Gray, Denise Mina and Stuart MacBride, Shetland Noir will be welcoming authors from as far away as Los Angeles and Washington DC, as well as from the UK mainland and from Shetland.
Featured authors include James Oswald author of the Detective Inspector McLean series; online crime fiction reviewer and Petrona Award for translated Scandinavian crime fiction judge, Sarah Ward; New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling writer Pamela Palmer; and award winning author of The Good Thief’s Guide series Chris Ewan.
They will be joined by other stellar names, including bestselling Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker and Anthony Award-nominated author Alexandra Sokoloff, S.J.I. Holliday, Mari Hannah and Valerie Laws, as well as ‘Killer Women”, Melanie McGrath, Louise Millar, Helen Giltrow and Laura Wilson.
Speaking on behalf of Shetland Arts, Donald Anderson said, “we are very pleased that so many writers have registered to take part in Shetland Noir and we are looking forward to welcoming this excellent line to Shetland’s first ever festival of Crime Fiction.”
A provisional programme of events has now been released online, which includes panel sessions with all the authors, and three special ‘head to head’ events featuring the headline guests. In addition to panels and receptions, festival ticket holders also have the opportunity to book onto a bus tour and follow in the footsteps of Jimmy Perez. Lead by special guides Ann Cleeves and Davie Gardener, the tour will explore some of the locations used in filming the BBC TV series Shetland, as well as locations from Ann’s novels.
Ann said ‘It’s months away but I'm already getting excited about Shetland Noir. I know Shetland will give a huge welcome to the readers, writers and journalists who have already decided to come and I can't wait to show off the islands to colleagues who've never been. If you haven't booked, do now. This is a chance of a lifetime and you'd be crazy to miss it!'
In addition to the full festival ticket, Noir fans can now purchase day tickets for the Friday and Saturday of the event, allowing them full access to author talks and head to head events. Further information about the festival, including author biographies, is available at shetlandnoir.com. Tickets are available through Shetland Box Office at Mareel & Isleburgh, over the phone on 01595 745555 or online at www.shetlandboxoffice.org
