CrimeFest 2015: Euro Noir

Moderator: Barry Forshaw
Panel: Roberto Costantini, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael Ridpath, Jorn Lier Horst

RC: an engineer, Italians surprised that an engineer can write. Used skills to plot. Big diagrams on the wall.

GS: Bergen people quite satisfied with themselves so when they got a successful detective they were quick to put a statue up.

JLH: Wisting pronounced Visting named after a hero who went to South Pole. No plans to stop writing after ten books.

GS: First book tried to do a typical PI in Norway in '70s in the model of Ross MacDonald, Chandler. Didn't really work so second book was different.

RC: Series character Michele is awkward, conflicted so half the audience won't like him, other half love him. Michele is a policeman who acts as a PI which you can do in Italy.

MR: Learned a lot about writing not just Iceland in writing about something new.

GS made Varg Veum quite different to himself but sees him as a best friend, knows him well after 17 books.

GS - Don Bartlett is a great translator; GS read a couple of chapters of new book and recognised his own jokes!

JLH: Translator Anne Bruce has been over to Wisting's town

RC: Books translated into both English and separately into American. Latter was 50 pages shorter.