Ilja Pfeijffer and Claire-Louise Bennett will be coming to the festival

As we approach the release of our catalogue January 12th, we want to reveal the names of some of the authors that will be joining us 9-13 February. This week we are pleased to announce the participation of two very fascinating authors: Ilja Pfeijffer and Claire-Louise Bennett.

Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer (born in the Netherlands in 1968) is a dutch author, poet and classical scholar. He is considered one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Dutch literature, and has written more than 40 works of fiction, poetry, plays, essays and translations. His critically acclaimed Grand Hotel Europa from 2021 has set him up for great international success, and the Norwegian translation will be published in February, just in time for the festival. It has been caracterized as an amazingly rich, bold and grandiose novel, capturing the spirit and zeitgeist of Europe like few others.

Claire-Louise Bennett is an English author based in Galway, Ireland, where she has lived for many years writing, studying and working in theatre. Her short stories have been published in The Irish Times and The Moth, and in 2013 she received the White Review Short Story Prize. Bennett has a peculiar ability to captivate readers and critics in mysterious ways, with an original prose full of imagination, experience and realistic observations. Her first novel Pond was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Price in 2016, and her most recent Checkout 19 has been chosen as one of the 'Books of 2021' by among many others Daily Mail and The Guardian.

We are full of anticipation!