Toronto International Festival of Authors: Katixa Agirre

Basque writer Katixa Agirre and Icelandic author Eva Björg eill meet at the Toronto International Festival of Authors to talk about female stereotypes created and nurtured in crime fiction. Agirre will bring to the roundtable discussion the themes in the book ´Amek ez dute´ (2018, Elkar). Björg will talk about the themes in the book ´Girls Who Lie´, translated by Victoria Cribb. This initiative is part of the Saison Quebec-Pays Basque project. Katrina Onstad will host the discussion on 5 June at 11:30 a.m. at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre.

Agirre´s acclaimed book is published in English under the title ´Mothers Don´t´, translated by Katie Whittemore and Kristin Addis. It tells the story of two young mothers, one who has killed her twins, drowning them in the bathtub. The other is the narrator of the story. Upon giving birth to her baby, she suddenly realises that she knows the murderous mother, although she has not heard from her for some time. Obsessed with what has happened, she decides to track her down and write a novel about it all.

´Girls Who Lie´, translated by Victoria Cribb, is part of the Forbidden Iceland collection. It is a thriller about a mother who disappears and eventually turns up dead.