Dark & Chilling: Crime in Christchurch

Along with the Great New Zealand Crime Debate and the announcement of the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award winner, there is another intriguing crime fiction event being held as part of the upcoming WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival.

I have the pleasure and privilege of being involved with "Dark & Chilling", a session that gives the audience a chance to join a conversation with Icelandic crime writer Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Scots-Kiwi thriller writer Liam McIlvanney, who was earlier this week announced as a finalist for the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award. It could be a big weekend in Christchurch for McIlvanney, and it's great to have Sigurðardóttir at the festival.

Both Sigurðardóttir and McIlvanney are acclaimed for dark, chilling thrillers with plenty of depth. Interestingly neither is a full-time author: Sigurðardóttir has a day job as a civil engineer, while McIlvanney is the Professor of Scottish Studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The three of us will be talking about their books and wider issue in crime fiction and the world, as part of a fun session on the Sunday afternoon.

You can see more about our session, and buy tickets ($18) here.