Four fantasy authors read from and discuss their work
Robyn Llywellyn (Wales), Andrzej Sapkowski (Poland), Marius Serra (Catalonia) and Johanna Sinisalo (Finland).

Introduced by Mia Gallagher. Mia Gallagher's debut novel HellFire will be published in September by Penguin Ireland.

In association with Literature Across Frontiers

Robin Llywelyn
As Managing Director of the Italianate Welsh village of Portmeirion (created by his architect grandfather), and the famous location of the tv cult series The Prisoner, Robin Llywelyn seems almost uniquely equipped for a career as a fantasy writer. Born in North Wales in 1958, he is the author of two novels, Seren Wen ar Gefndir Gwyn (White Star, Bright Sky, 1992), which won the National Eisteddfod Prose Medal and the Arts Council of Wales Book of the Year award and O'r Harbwr Gwag i'r Cefnfor Gwyn (From Empty Harbour to White Ocean, 1994), won the National Eisteddfod Prose Medal for a second time in 1994 and the BBC Writer of the Year award. A collection of short stories followed in 1995 and his work has been published in English, French and Italian.

Andrzej Sapkowski
Born in Lodz in 1948, Andrzej Sapkowski is the most popular Polish author of fantasy fiction, receiving all the major Polish prizes, including the Polityka Passport award, and regularly appearing on bestsellers’ lists. His best known cycle of stories and novels, concerning the warlock Geralt, is richly informed by his interest in Slavic mythology, and this and other work has earned him, almost uniquely, a popular and serious critical following.

"[A] dazzling, slightly cynical sense of humor..." - Polityka

www.mariusserra.info

Marius Serra
As well as translating such diverse writers as Groucho Marx and Edmund White into Catalan, Marius Serra (born Barcelona, 1963) has also published nine books of his own fiction, including the novels AblanatanalbA (1999), Mon oncle (1995), which won the FEC Award, and De com s'escriu una novella (About the Writing of a Novel, 1997-2004), as well as short stories which have won him the Ciutat de Barcelona Award. Describing himself as “a verbivore”, Serra has also written for TV and radio as well as works for children. His novel Farsa (Farce, 2006), a satirical take on Catalan society, recently won the prestigius Ramon Llull prize.

Johanna Sinisalo
The winner of the Finlandia Prize (2000), the Atorox Prize for best Finnish science fiction or fantasy story, on six occasions, and the three-times winner of the Kemi National Comic Strip Contest, Johanna Sinisalo (b 1958) is an acclaimed television, science fiction and comic strip writer who has published three novels and many science fiction and fantasy short stories. An international sensation, her novel Troll has been translated into six languages.