CATCH BFLA WRITERS AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVALS

July 28, 2015 Hattie Grunewald

Tickets are now on sale for Edinburgh International Book Festival and you can see several Blake Friedmann authors there this August.

Margie Orford will be appearing twice, first together with Ben Mcpherson for the event MADE UP STORIES: REAL WORLD CONCERNS on Monday 17 August, from 5:00pm to 6:00pm at the Writer’s Retreat. You can also see Margie at the AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IMPRISIONED WRITERS SERIES on Tuesday 18 August, from 5:30pm to 6:15pm at the Bailie Gifford Corner Theatre.

Janice Galloway will be talking about SEX AND LIFE AND PARENTHOOD on Thursday 20 August from 11:45am to 12:45pm at the Baillie Gifford Main Theatre. The talk will be chaired by Jackie McGlone. Before the festival, Janice will be launching her new edition of THE TRICK IS TO KEEP BREATHING, re-published by Vintage Classics as part of their Scottish Classics Collection, alongside A.L. Kennedy at Looking Glass Books, on Thursday 13 August from 6:30pm. Janice will also appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on 28 August, 1:00pm, to read from JELLYFISH and discuss her work, admission will be free, and donations welcome.

Amy Mason will be speaking with Esther Gerritsen at the event MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS: A PSYCHOLOGICAL DUET at Thursday 20 August from 8:45pm to 9:45 pm at the Bailie Gifford Corner Theatre. Amy is also up for the First Book Award at the Edinburgh Festival, for THE OTHER IDA. You can vote for her here.

Following last year’s total sell-out run, Andrew Doyle will be doing his stand up show MINIMALISM at the Stand this year, from Wednesday 5 August till Sunday 30 August.

The Edinburgh Festival is one of the largest Arts events in the world and takes place for three weeks every August in Scotland’s capital city.

Margie Orford elected President of South African PEN

June 27, 2014 Hattie Grunewald

Margie Orford has been elected President of PEN South Africa by the institution’s executive committee with effect from June 19. She succeeds Anthony (Tony) Fleischer, who was president for many years and died after a short illness on June 5 at his home in Cape Town. Margie was Vice-President of PEN South Africa for many years.

Margie is an award-winning journalist, photographer, film director, children's author and Fulbright scholar. Born in London, she grew up in southern Africa. She was detained as a student activist during the State of Emergency in 1985 and wrote her finals in prison. She lives in Cape Town, and is Patron for the children’s book charity, the Little Hands Trust and for SA RapeCrisis.

Her concern about violence against women is reflected throughout the Clare Hart series, published in the UK by Head of Zeus and Harper Witness in the US. It has also been published in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Russia and the Czech Republic, and rights have also been sold in Denmark, Norway and Iceland.

Praise for Margie Orford and WATER MUSIC:

‘Margie Orford writes with great human insight, at times with poetic beauty, and always the ever-present deep, dark undertow of menace.’ – Peter James

'Orford plots so brilliantly that to stop reading is as harrowing as to carry on.' – Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

‘Clare Hart is back, and she returns in style… the tension racks up, and up, and up… WATER MUSIC should see Orford win many, many more fans, and she’s not exactly short of them already. Read it.’ – The Big Issue

‘I loved the twists and turns of this book and the truly unknowable nature of the next chapter’ – Lizzi Thomasson, The Bookseller

‘Margie Orford gives genre writing swagger, she makes it look good…every detail in WATER MUSIC convinces. Every sentence is clipped, pared down, muscular, every emotion captured with poise and precision. WATER MUSIC is Orford’s best work yet.’ – Jonathan Amid, Slipnet

Follow Margie Orford on twitter

Visit Margie's website

Catch BFLA Authors at the Edinburgh Festivals

June 25, 2014 Hattie Grunewald

Tickets are now on sale for Edinburgh International Book Festival and you can see several Blake Friedmann authors there this August.

Edward Carey will be appearing at the festival twice. On 9 August he will be talking with Nathan Filer and Matthew Quick about creating characters in fiction. On 10 August he will be talking to children about his IREMONGER trilogy. The second in the trilogy, FOULSHAM, is published on 7 August. Explore Foulsham on Edward’s website.

On 15 August, Monique Roffey will be talking with Neel Mukherjee. Their conversation will explore the different ways their books address idealistic young men railing against their societies. Monique’s latest novel, HOUSE OF ASHES, is published on 24 July. See more on Monique’s website.

Rohan Gavin is running a reading workshop on THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, Sherlock Holmes’s most famous case, on 19 August. The second novel in his KNIGHTLEY AND SON series, KNIGHTLEY AND SON: K-9, published on 14 August, also features a hound or two… See more on knightleyandson.com.

Zakes Mda is appearing on 19 August as part of the Voices from South Africa series to talk about his novels, including his most recent book THE SCULPTORS OF MAPUNGUBWE.

Margie Orford talks with Parker Bilal about African crime fiction and her novel WATER MUSIC, the fifth featuring detective Clare Hart, on 20 August. See more on Margie’s website.

On 25 August, Kerry Hudson talks with Simon Van Booy about her new novel THIRST and love stories. Find out more on Kerry’s Website.

Many of our writers also have shows as part of the Edinburgh fringe festival.

Andrew Doyle is performing his stand up show Zero Tolerance at the Stand this year from 30 July – 24 August. He will also be performing in a play called Outings at the Gilded Balloon, which explores many true life stories of people coming out, and runs from 30 July – 25 August.

Anna Emerson and Lizzie Bates of the Boom Jennies both have shows at the Fringe. Anna Emerson presents “An Evening With Patti DuPont” from 1-24 August. Lizzie Bates’ comedy show Reprobates runs from 30 July – 25 August. You can read more about the shows here.

The Edinburgh Festival is one of the largest Arts events in the world and takes place for three weeks every August in Scotland’s capital city.

Where in the World is Margie Orford!

April 28, 2014 Blake Friedmann

When we ask Margie Orford where she’s been lately, she laughs ruefully and says, “I feel like the Johnny Cash song—I've been everywhere.” Far from an understatement, this energetic author, activist and PEN Vice President has spent the last few months in a whirlwind of events across the world.

In February, she visited Ethiopia as the South African PEN’s executive Vice President. At Ethiopian PEN’s Conference on Freedom of Expression, she spoke on how to cultivate a human rights culture in a post-conflict society. A vocal commentator on issues of violence against women and the challenges of post-apartheid South Africa, her article on the Oscar Pistorius case has been featured in the Guardian and the New York Times and widely quoted.

She went on to spend March on tour in Norway, publicising the Norwegian translation of the first title in her Clare Hart crime series Daddy’s Girl, and appeared on primetime television with Belinda Bauer. See more on Margie and other female crime writers in Norway here. In an interview with Asbjørn Slettemark, she talks about South Africa’s complex society, the Clare Hart series and her favourite South African crime novels and films.

Moving from Norway to a PEN event in Glasgow in April, she took part on a panel discussing freedom of speech and modern censorship with Anne Enright. She also met with her UK and international publishers in London during the 2014 London Book Fair.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Harper Witness Impulse have released Margie’s first US publication, LIKE CLOCKWORK, and other Clare Hart titles will follow in quick succession this year. She has recently been interviewed on NPR about the Pistorius trial – listen to a podcast here. Margie will be back in the UK in August to appear at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Margie Orford, who has been described as 'the Queen of South African Crime Fiction', was born in London and grew up in Namibia, the setting for BLOOD ROSE which is also optioned for film. A Fulbright Scholar, she was educated in South Africa and the United States. She is Executive Vice-President of South African PEN, the patron of Rape Crisis and of the children's book charity, the Little Hands Trust. She lives in Cape Town.

Praise for Margie Orford and WATER MUSIC:

‘Margie Orford writes with great human insight, at times with poetic beauty, and always the ever-present deep, dark undertow of menace.’ – Peter James

'Orford plots so brilliantly that to stop reading is as harrowing as to carry on.' – Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

‘I loved the twists and turns of this book and the truly unknowable nature of the next chapter.’ – Lizzi Thomasson,The Bookseller

‘Margie Orford's WATER MUSIC is fascinated with the way cultural and political pressures affect criminal behaviour... Orford has a rare ability to get under the skin of the genre's conventions.’—Irish Times

‘Another in this excellent South African series.’ –Literary Review

Follow Margie Orford on twitter

Visit Margie's website

Margie Orford’s WATER MUSIC and Clare Hart series out now in the UK

February 27, 2014 Hattie Grunewald

Margie Orford’s thrilling South African crime series has a new UK home with Head of Zeus, who are kicking off on 27 February with the publication of WATER MUSIC in ebook and trade paperback. The first four Clare Hart titles are also available at the same time on ebook – LIKE CLOCKWORK, BLOOD ROSE, DADDY’S GIRL and GALLOW’S HILL.

The Clare Hart series has been published in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Russia and the Czech Republic, and rights have also been sold in Denmark, Norway and Iceland. Harper Witness will publish in the US later this year.

In WATER MUSIC, a baby is found half-frozen but alive on a Cape Town hillside and a talented young cellist disappears from her music school. Clare Hart, with personal problems of her own, has a great deal to unravel, against the clock.

Margie Orford was interviewed on Open Book on BBC Radio 4 last week to talk about WATER MUSIC and South African crime writing. If you have access to BBC iPlayer you can listen to her here. She will be in the UK later this year to promote her new book.

Margie Orford, has been described as 'the Queen of South African Crime Fiction'. She was born in London and grew up in Namibia, the setting for BLOOD ROSE, the second novel in the series, which is also optioned for film. A Fulbright Scholar, she was educated in South Africa and the United States. She is Executive Vice-President of South African PEN, the patron of Rape Crisis and of the children's book charity, the Little Hands Trust. She lives in Cape Town.

Praise for Margie Orford and WATER MUSIC:

‘Margie Orford writes with great human insight, at times with poetic beauty, and always the ever-present deep, dark undertow of menace.’ – Peter James

'Orford plots so brilliantly that to stop reading is as harrowing as to carry on.' – Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

‘I loved the twists and turns of this book and the truly unknowable nature of the next chapter’ – Lizzi Thomasson, The Bookseller

Follow Margie Orford on twitter

Visit Margie's website