Joseph O’Connor to appear at first-ever BBC Between The Covers roadshow

Photo credit: Urszula Soltys

For the first time ever, Between The Covers, the nation’s favourite TV book club, is taking to the road with a live version of the hugely successful BBC Two series. The live show will feature Joseph O’Connor, bestselling author of STAR OF THE SEA and MY FATHER’S HOUSE, on a panel alongside three of the best-loved stars from the series: Kacey Ainsworth, Jo Brand, and Stephen Mangan.

The tour will be hosted by Amanda Ross, TV’s Queen of Books and executive producer of Between The Covers. Amanda picks all the books for the television series and has chosen a new book to inspire theatre audiences to get reading.

Kicking off at the Richmond Theatre on 1st June, the tour will take in Oxford, Nottingham, Birmingham Reading and Brighton – tickets go on sale on 22 March at 10.00am from Ticketmaster.

As with the BBC Two show, the celebrity panel will wax lyrical about some of their favourite books and their “BYOBs” – offering audiences plenty of brilliant recommendations, as well as enlightening and humorous insights into the reading habits of some of the nation’s favourite stars.

A bookshop will be set up at each venue and signings will take place after the show, with the celebrity panel, Joseph O’Connor, and some of the authors of the selected books.

Amanda Ross said: ‘We are constantly told by our viewers that the TV show is way too short, and that they would love to join in the ultimate fantasy book group – well, this is their chance! We couldn’t be more excited to take the show around the country and meet the viewers.’

Joseph O’Connor said: ‘I'm hugely excited to take part in Between The Covers Live and am looking forward to what I know will be a brilliant celebration of reading. The relationship between us as readers and the great books we love is special and unique. Getting together to talk about it will be so enjoyable.’

Joseph O’Connor’s MY FATHER’S HOUSE became an instant bestseller on publication in January 2023 (UK, Harvill Secker and US, Europa Editions). The first in the Escape Line trilogy, it’s a powerful thriller based on the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty who, together with his accomplices, risked his life to smuggle thousands out of occupied Rome right under the nose of his Nazi nemesis, Paul Hauptmann. The paperback was published in the UK in February 2024, and will be published in the US on April 23rd. Joseph is currently writing the second novel in the series, THE GHOSTS OF ROME, to be published in January 2025.

The Between The Covers tour dates are:

1st June: Richmond Theatre
2nd June: Oxford Playhouse
3rd June: Nottingham Playhouse
4th June: Birmingham Town Hall
6th June: Reading Concert Hall
7th June: Brighton Theatre Royal

About Joseph O’Connor
Joseph O’Connor was born in Dublin, where he still lives. MY FATHER’S HOUSE is his tenth novel: he is also the author of film scripts, radio and stage plays, two collections of short stories, and several bestselling works of non-fiction.  MY FATHER’S HOUSE has been longlisted the 2024 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction and the 2024 Dublin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Eason An Post Irish Novel of the Year Award 2023.

2022 was the 20th anniversary of Joseph O’Connor’s novel STAR OF THE SEA which was an international bestseller, selling more than a million copies in the UK alone and being published in 38 languages. It won France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, the Irish Post Award for Fiction, the Nielsen Bookscan Golden Book Award, an American Library Association Award, the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Hall of Fame Award, and the Prix Litteraire Zepter for European Novel of the Year.

His novel GHOST LIGHT was chosen as Dublin’s One City Book novel for 2011. Published in 2019, SHADOWPLAY has won him extraordinary praise, was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, The Dalkey Novel Prize, the Costa Novel Prize, among others, and won him Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards. The French edition was shortlisted for the Jean Monnet Prize and the Vintage paperback was a Richard and Judy Winter 2020 pick.

He holds an honorary Doctorate in Literature from University College Dublin and received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2012. He is the Inaugural Frank McCourt Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.

He is to be the Writer in Residence at the Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival, July 2024.

Praise for Joseph O’Connor

‘A masterful storyteller.’ – Neel Mukherjee, The Times

‘Joseph O’Connor has the magic touch, he brings whole eras alive.’ – Colum McCann

‘A great writer performing Olympian literary storytelling.’ – Sir Bob Geldof

‘Like Joyce, O'Connor combines his panoramic range with a close eye to the grain and texture of the phrase... An astonishingly accomplished writer.’  – Terry Eagleton, The Guardian

‘Ireland’s greatest storyteller.’ – The Sunday Independent

‘One of the best writers working today.’ – Alice Walker

Visit Joseph’s website.

Graeme Armstrong’s documentary STREET GANGS to air on BBC

Credit: BBC

STREET GANGS, a new documentary series presented by Graeme Armstrong and inspired by his novel THE YOUNG TEAM, will premiere on the BBC this Wednesday (5 October 2023). In Scotland, the programme will be broadcast on BBC Scotland at 10pm on Wednesday; viewers in both Scotland and the rest of the UK will be able to watch on BBC iPlayer shortly after.

In the three-part series ex-gang member Graeme Armstrong travels to forgotten areas of Scotland to shine a light on the allure of gang life. He encounters drill musicians and street gang members, while also exploring his own past, and tries to understand why young people are seduced by the perceived glamour and excitement of gang life by speaking to young people themselves. The series will also include interviews with the actor and filmmaker Peter Mullan (TRAINSPOTTING, MY NAME IS JOE, NEDS) and Dundonian rapper Eugene.

About the series, Graeme told Connie McLaughlin for BBC Radio Scotland: ‘this is the natural evolution for me now – if you’re not part of the gang, you’re trying to prevent gang culture… If you want to interrupt something like gang culture, you need to understand it. Looking at the past will tell you a lot of information about it, but what we need to do is go and listen and speak to young people, and see what they want to say: so we’ve given a voice to people who don’t have one, and that opportunity, that’s what the series is all about. There’s two journeys: there’s my journey into the past, but there’s also these kids’ journey into the future.’

You can hear more of Graeme’s interview with BBC Radio Scotland here (from 1:11:10).

The series is produced by Harry Bell for Tern TV, and the series producer is Pete Stanton. The directors are Jo Pagan and Alistair Ferguson, as part of BBC Scotland and Screen Scotland’s new initiative backing emerging directors.

About Graeme Armstrong

Graeme Armstrong is a Scottish writer from Airdrie. His teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s gang culture. Alongside overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English as an undergraduate at the University of Stirling; where, after graduating with honours, he returned to study a Masters’ in Creative Writing. He is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Strathclyde.

Graeme regularly works within the community visiting prisons and schools, giving talks on his experiences of gang-culture and substance abuse. He promotes a message of anti-violence and abstinence-based recovery.

His bestselling debut novel, THE YOUNG TEAM (Picador, 2020), is inspired by his experiences. It won a Betty Trask Award, a Somerset Maugham Award, and the Scots Book o the Year 2021.

In 2021, Graeme presented Scotland: The Rave, a documentary broadcast by the BBC that explored Scotland’s rave and PCDJ culture, subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland and RTS Scotland Award 2022.

In 2023, Graeme was chosen as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists, an accolade that is awarded once a decade.

Praise for Graeme Armstrong and THE YOUNG TEAM

‘Graeme Armstrong is the real deal.’ – Douglas Stuart

‘One of the most admired young voices in British fiction’ – Mike Wade, The Times

‘Has proved the novel form is still alive and kicking… a genuine literary phenomenon… Indeed, Armstrong is that rare thing, a writer whose work has become a tangible part of a social material, as has Armstrong himself.’ – James Taylor, Metal Magazine

‘Gives us a voice from a place – geographically and socio-economically – we don’t often hear from’ – John Self, The Times

‘Armstrong’s hard-hitting novel is TRAINSPOTTING for a new generation’ – Independent

‘An instant Scottish classic… While its dialect might make THE YOUNG TEAM seem like a story rooted in the specificity of its location, the novel’s exploration of mental health and drug use tells a universal tale of working-class masculinity’ — The Skinny

‘A swaggering, incendiary debut… Sharp yet tender and mischievously funny, THE YOUNG TEAM pitches Armstrong straight into the first division of Scottish writers.’ – Jude Cook, The Guardian

Follow Graeme on Twitter

DEVIL'S PEAK by Deon Meyer commences principal photography as a 5 x 1 hour series

Hilton Pelser plays Detective Benny Griessel. Photo credit: BBC Studios

Benny Griessel – the hero of Deon Meyer’s South African crime series – is being brought to life on screen for the first time as filming gets underway in South Africa on the TV adaptation of DEVIL’S PEAK. Produced by Lookout Point and backed by BBC Studios, the series stars Hilton Pelser (Moffie, Glasshouse, Kissing Booth) as Benny, with Sisanda Henna (Trackers, Rogue), Tarryn Wyngaard (Raised By Wolves, Stam, The Watch), Shamilla Miller (Blood & Water, Troy: Fall of a City), and Masasa Mbangeni (The Republic, Scandal).

The 5 x 1 hour series is directed by Jozua Malherbe (Griekwastad, Justice Served), and written by Matthew Orton (Operation Finale, Moon Knight).

Deon Meyer says: “Benny Griessel started his fictitious life as a humble once-off cameo character, and never in my wildest dreams did I think he would one day be part of an international TV series. I am absolutely thrilled that this brilliant team of cast and crew will bring him and his story to life.”

DEVIL’S PEAK, the first of six novels featuring the detective, sees the talented but broken Benny Griessel tracking down a righteous vigilante killer whose crimes are capturing the imagination of the city. Meanwhile grieving father Thobela Mpayipheli seeks justice after the untimely murder of his son. Benny and Thobela are brought into the orbit of a trapped mother, Christine, who is willing to do anything to achieve a better life for herself and her daughter, and the fates of these three characters become inextricably linked. Combining gripping tension with uncompromising authenticity, DEVIL’S PEAK offers an original South African take on the investigative thriller for today.

About Deon Meyer

Deon Meyer lives in Cape Town. His books are sold in 23 countries, and have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize in South Africa, and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. COBRA was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA International Dagger, THIRTEEN HOURS was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger, and HEART OF THE HUNTER, was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Prize and selected as one of Chicago Tribune’s ‘10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004’.

Praise for the novel DEVIL’S PEAK

Winner ATKV Award (South Africa)

Shortlisted for the M-Net Prize 2005

A Peter Millar Times Christmas choice, 2007.

Winner of Svenska Oversatta Kriminalroman (Martin Beck) Award 2010

Winner of the Readers’ Award from CritiquesLibres.com in the category Crime Novel or Thriller in October 2010.

‘One of the most startling things about this crime masterwork from South African author, Deon Meyer, is that it was originally penned in Afrikaans. All the more credit, then, to translater KL Seegers for producing such a beautifully written and yet blood-pumpingly readable English language version. But it isn’t just about the action. A far, far cry from your basic ‘cops and robbers’ or blow-by-blow ‘good guys v bad guys’, DEVIL’S PEAK is a grown-up and multi-faceted tale, tough and visceral in tone, but also rich in flawed characters and deeply redolent of both urban and rural South Africa; not just the geographic landscape, but the political and social scene as well.’ – Paul Finch

‘This is one of those entertainment fictions that teaches one more than any textbook or documentary. This thriller is a fascinating portrayal of one aspect of life in post-apartheid South Africa…winding up the tension to a gripping, shocking climax. Highly recommended.’ – Literary Review

‘Deon Meyer is…one of the sharpest and most perceptive thriller writers around…Meyer paints a wonderful picture of the dark side of the rainbow nation… Against the odds Meyer leaves us with a resolution that is both poignant and supremely satisfying. In no way is this a negative book about the new South Africa. It makes the place come alive with a breathless urgency that recalls the 1940s Los Angeles of Dashiel Hammet or Raymond Chandler: a bit mad, a bit bad, a bit dangerous, but exotically vibrant, a society in adolescence. Think of Meyer in the way that you might have regarded a bottle of Cape red a dozen years ago – dark, strong with an unusual but beguilingly moreish taste. If it can produce popular literature as good as this, the new South Africa has a lot going for it.’ – Peter Millar, The Times

Visit Deon’s website

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