Granite Noir 2025- Secrets From the Past (Author Conversation)
The Lemon Tree
5 West North Street
Aberdeen
AB24 5AT
Chaired by Alex Clark
Three fabulous historical fiction writers take us on a time-travelling tour of Europe uncovering secrets from across the centuries. From the hunt for the philosopher’s stone and a court in turmoil in 16th century Prague in SJ Parris’ Alchemy; to betrayal and mystery from Edinburgh’s dazzling opera scene is 1791 with Lucy Ribchester’s Murder Ballad; to Helle’s Hound by Oskar Jensen, a golden age whodunnit with a delicious Danish twist.
This event is part of the multibuy discount
No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author S.J. Parris is the pseudonym for author and journalist Stephanie Merritt , who has worked as a critic and feature writer for a variety of newspapers and magazines, as well as radio and television.
Writing as S. J. Parris, she is one of the fastest growing historical crime writers in the UK, with her series of thrillers set in Tudor England selling over a million copies. The series, starring 16th century spy Giordano Bruno, has been optioned for TV by Urban Myth Films.
She currently writes for the Observer and the Guardian , reviews for BBC Radio 4, and lives in Surrey.
Lucy Ribchester was born in Edinburgh, and Murder Ballad will be her third historical novel. Her first, The Hourglass Factory, was selected by Waterstones Edinburgh as their Book of the Year, longlisted for the Historical Writers Association Debut Crown and picked by Val McDermid for her New Blood panel at Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival.
Lucy has also received a New Writers Award from the Scottish Book Trust and a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for the COSTA Short Story Award and the Manchester Fiction Prize.
As well as writing fiction, Lucy is a journalist and copywriter and has contributed to The Guardian, The Times, The List and the National Trust for Scotland. She reviews dance, circus and cabaret during the Edinburgh Festival and has published two contemporary thrillers under the name Elle Connel.
Oskar Jensen is an author and academic. He researches songs at Newcastle University, and has written scholarly tomes on Napoleon, ballad-singing, and most recently the London streets, with 2022’s Vagabonds, which was shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize.
Oskar is a BBC New Generation Thinker, appearing frequently on Radios 3 and 4, as well as showing up in the New Statesman, on BBC 1’s Who Do You Think You Are?, and as historical advisor for 2018’s Vanity Fair and a forthcoming major motion picture. His debut adult novel, Helle and Death, was published in 2024.
Alex Clark is a critic, journalist and broadcaster. A co-host of Graham Norton’s Book Club, she is also a regular on Radio 4 and writes on a wide range of subjects for the Guardian, the Observer, the Irish Times and the Times Literary Supplement. She is a patron of the Cambridge Literary Festival, and has judged many literary awards, including the Booker prize. She is an experienced chair of live events, and lives in Kilkenny.
Granite Noir is inspired by the incredible popularity of crime fiction in all its forms, by the fantastic contribution that Scottish writers make, by our love affair with Nordic Noir, on the page and on screen. Take a look at our full programme and book your tickets now…do you dare to be there?
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Applies to author conversations only
Granite Noir has teamed up with the Press and Journal and Evening Express once again to launch this year’s short story competition! Open to writers of 18 years and above, stories of between 1500 and 2000 words should be written on any of themes explored in this year’s Granite Noir programme and submitted by Sunday 26 January 2025. A shortlist of five stories will be decided by the panel of judges in February and the winner announced at the Festival.
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