Gunnar Staalesen visits London

This coming London event will surely interest the Nordic Noir community. Brent Libraries presents Scandinavian Crime Month featuring a visit from Norway’s best selling and award winning crime writer Gunnar Staalesen. Staalesen will make an exclusive visit to Willesden Green Library on World Book Day, Thursday 3rd March 2011 from 7 – 9 pm (Willesden Green Library, 95 High Road, London NW10 2SF).

This is a blurb from the library’s poster:

Gunnar Staalesen has written over 20 crime novels and won several awards. Varg Veum, a private eye anti-hero, is the protagonist of 15 bestsellers and several blockbusting films in Norway. “Often compared to Raymond Chandler, Staalesen has been credited with introducing social realism into crime fiction through his critical commentary on our times. With his novels translated into 15 languages, Staalesen is another fine representative of Scandinavian crime fiction, a genre widely appreciated in Europe.” The Independent, Monday, 19 October 2009

Brent Libraries have also launched a creative writing competition, where you can compete to become the new Mankell. This is what it says on their website:

Have you got what it takes to be the next Stieg Larsson or Henning Mankell?

Enter Brent Libraries short story competition and have the chance to win a place on a creative writing course at Birkbeck, University of London or a book token from the Willesden Green Book Shop.

Interview with Norwegian crime writer Gunnar Staalesen

Here’s a link to an interview with the Norwegian crime writer Gunnar Staalesen in The Scotsman. He talks interestingly about the city of Bergen as backdrop for his fiction and about his great American heroes of crime. Have any of you read Staalesen, what do you think? Who do you think is the most interesting Norwegian crime writer?