'Queen of South African Crime Fiction', Margie Orford is to give a talk on 'The Grammar of Violence: Writing Crime in Contemporary South Africa' at University of York on 3 February 2012 at 4.15pm.

Margie, who is an award-winning journalist, photographer, film director, children's author and Fulbright scholar is also Executive Vice-President of South African PEN and has previously starred at speaking events including the Franschhoek Literary Festival and Authors For Peace. Her Clare Hart series is published in the UK by Atlantic and Jonathan Ball in South Africa.

The talk will be followed by a reception and the launch of 'The Cambridge History of South African Literature' (edited by David Attwell and Derek Attridge) at which Isobel Dixon will be a guest speaker.

For more info on the event, click here.

Praise for Margie Orford:

'The queen of South African crime thriller writers…The energy Margie Orford creates between her characters and the tautness of her plots is attracting new readers and publishers every month.' -- Sue Grant-Marshall, The Weekender

'Orford plots so brilliantly that to stop reading is as harrowing as to carry on.' -- Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

'GALLOWS HILL has got the snappy dialogue and the meticulous forensic detail you've come to expect from a Clare Hart thriller...Margie Orford has again delivered a tightly plotted thriller with solid political credentials.' -- Jacqui L'Ange, The Times (SA)

'Superstar Margie Orford's writing has garnered acclaim everywhere. Her third crime novel to feature Clare Hart, DADDY'S GIRL, has already been sold abroad, giving her a footprint in nine countries. Her writing is cinematic, powerful and so close to the bone it almost cuts.' -- Jenny Crwys-Williams

'Margie Orford is to Cape Town what Val McDermid is to the north of England.' --Anthony Egan, Mail and Guardian