“Iceland Noir has an atmosphere of equality that’s virtually unheard of in other festivals.” - Reykjavík Grapevine

Iceland Noir is the primary annual literature festival in Iceland, a country known for its literary heritage and beautiful nature. As its name suggests, Iceland Noir was originally established as a crime fiction festival but has since evolved and now provides a wide focus on of all forms of literature, in addition to other methods of storytelling such as film, poetry and audiobooks. Around 80-100 authors and other artists appear as part of the program and are a mix of locals and foreigners – as is the audience. The festival language is English and the venues are all downtown Reykjavík within a ten minute walking distance from each other, numerous hotels and some of the best city sights. The festival hub is private members club Vinnustofa Kjarval which ticketholders get full access to during the festival.

Although the festival is small and relatively young, its reputation is exemplary and as a result it attracts great authors and artists for appearance in the program. As an example, last year’s festival included Dan Brown, Neil Gaiman, Paula Hawkins, Louise Penny and Secretary Hillary Clinton.

In 2024 the festival will take place between the 20th to the 23rd of November. Headliners are being announced and to date include beloved author Ann Cleeves and actress Brenda Blethyn who plays Vera in the series based on Ann’s novels as well as this year’s representative of film: director, producer and screenwriter Robert Zemeckis. The exhaustive list will be eked out in the coming weeks, but ticketholders can expect an exciting lineup of renown and interesting authors from the US, Iceland, the UK and as far afield as Egypt.

Icelandair’s festival package includes a four-day Iceland Noir Literature Festival Pass and round-trip flights from your preferred airport. Plus, you can add on hotel accommodation and extend your stay in Iceland for up to 30 nights! Important: Your Iceland Noir Festival pass will be valid for all four days of the festival, despite only one date appearing on your booking confirmation.

For any Icelandair Holidays booking at any Berjaya hotel in Iceland: a complimentary welcome drink and a 15% discount at the hotel restaurant (except at the Alda hotel).

Noir Festival Confirmed Attendees

This year’s Iceland Noir Festival boasts a thrilling line-up, with headlining speakers comprised of:

Brenda Blethyn is an award-winning actor who stars as Vera Stanhope in the hit ITV series Vera. Among her many accolades, Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work.

Ann Cleeves is the author of over thirty-five critically acclaimed novels, and winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger 2017. She's creator detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn, who can be found in ITV’s Vera, BBC1’s Shetland and ITV's The Long Call. Her 11th Vera book, The Dark Wives, publishes August 2024. She lives in Northumberland where the Vera books are set.

Harlan Coben is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the world’s leading storytellers. His suspense novels are published in forty-six languages and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries, with eighty million books in print worldwide. His Myron Bolitar series has earned the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony Awards, and several of his books have been developed into Netflix original series, including the #1 global hit Fool Me Once, The Stranger, The Innocent, Gone for Good, The Woods, Stay Close, and Hold Tight, as well as the Amazon Prime series adaptation of Shelter. He lives in New Jersey.

David Walliams is a comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is the biggest selling children's author to have started writing since the year 2000, and his books have sold over 50 million copies worldwide and been published in 54 languages. In 2017, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to charity and the arts.

See the full Iceland Noir Festival line-up here.