Dunedin will be the scene of the crime this October as it welcomes some of Scotland and Ireland's finest crime writers for a thrilling new literary event.

The Celtic Noir crime writing festival (October 12-13) is presented by the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies (CISS), Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival, Dunedin Public Libraries, and Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature.

“Given that the acclaimed Scottish crime writer Val McDermid is a Visiting Professor of Scottish Studies and Crime Fiction at CISS, and that I myself write crime novels, we thought it made sense to mark our Centre’s tenth anniversary with a festival of Irish and Scottish crime writing,” says Liam McIlvanney, inaugural Stuart Professor of Scottish Studies and Co-Director of CISS.

The festival will feature workshops and author panels as well as a public lecture by McIlvanney on October 10.

Featured authors

Dame Fiona Kidman is one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed and best-loved novelists. She has written more than thirty books and her latest novel, This Mortal Boy, was awarded the Acorn Foundation's Prize for Fiction at the Ockham Book Awards 2019. She has a DNZM, OBE and two French honours, including the French Legion of Honour.

Scottish author Val McDermid's novels have been translated into forty languages and have sold over sixteen million copies worldwide. This year she has released Broken Ground, the fifth in the Karen Pirie series and How the Dead Speak, the eleventh book in the Wire in the Blood series, featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan. 

Liam McIlvanney's second novel, Where the Dead Men Go, won the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best New Zealand Crime Novel. His latest novel, The Quaker, won the 2018 McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the CWA Historical Dagger Award, and the Ngaio Marsh Award.

Adrian McKinty was born in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland and is the bestselling author of the Sean Duffy series. His novel Dead I Well May Be was shortlisted for the 2004 Dagger Award and his novel The Chain has been optioned by Paramount Pictures. His books have won the Edgar Award, Barry Award, Anthony Award and Ned Kelly Award.

Liz Nugent is a writer of award-winning psychological suspense novels Unraveling Oliver, Lying in Wait and Skin Deep. All three books topped the Irish bestsellers list and have won multiple Irish Book Awards. They have also been optioned for screen adaptations. In 2017, Nugent won the Irish Woman of the Year Award for Literature.

Vanda Symon’s Celtic roots come via Fiji and her Campbell seafaring great-grandfather. She is the writer of the Sam Shephard detective series and The Faceless. Symon is a three-time finalist for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Fiction, and her novel Overkill has been long listed for the 2019 CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger.

Book your tickets early! 

10th October, What is Celtic Noir? Public lecture University Campus 

12th - 13th October, Celtic Noir Festival, Dunedin City Library