Sept 6: Looking forward to reading at WORDS in the ATRIX Theatre in Bromsgrove tonight. They hosted Zadie Smith last. No pressure, eh? http://www.artrix.co.uk/Whats-On/p70/c20
June 24: A recent interview in LeDroit conducted by Valérie Lessard. http://www.lapresse.ca/le-droit/arts-et-spectacles/201506/20/01-4879755-dans-les-calepins-de-notes-de-dan-vyleta.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter We had an interesting conversation about The Crooked Maid / La servante aux corneilles and its connection to its predecessor.
March 8, 2015: Quebec readers are giving Fenêtres sur la nuit a warm reception. First a lovely review/interview by Sonia Sarfati in La Presse http://www.lapresse.ca/arts/livres/201502/27/01-4848083-dan-vyleta-lobservateur-tranquille.php, now this kind discussion in Le Devoir by Christian Desmeules http://m.ledevoir.com/culture/livres/433660/litterature-canadienne-vienne-la-nuit. And then I even got a mention on TV courtesy of Salut Bonjour: http://tva.canoe.ca/emissions/salutbonjour/chroniques/sbwe/bouquineries/236086/haute-tension-pour-les-jours-de-relache
Feb 25, 2015: Lovely review today in La Presse+ for the French-language edition of The Quiet Twin, Fenêtres sur la nuit: http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/00b906bb-517e-4937-bffc-d6d5b904ebf1|_0.html
Feb 8, 2015: The UK paperback edition of THE CROOKED MAID is hitting the shelves — see the blog for the fabulous cover. And Alto’s French-language edition of THE QUIET TWIN is soon to follow… (Merci Quebec!). Exciting stuff.
Nov 25: Check out my review of Kathy Page’s lovely short story collection Paradise & Elsewhere in the December edition of The Walrus: http://thewalrus.ca/the-short-list/
Oct 8: Reading at the Durham Book Festival on Saturday, Oct 11.I am (author clears throat, for effect) a Master of the Macabre. As is Lauren Owen: http://durhambookfestival.com/programme/event/lauren-owen-and-dan-vyleta-masters-of-the-macabre/ Looking forward!
Sept 20: Very excited to learn that The Crooked Maid has won the 2014 J.I. Segal Award in the category of English Fiction and Poetry Award on a Jewish Theme.
Sept 10: The Crooked Maid is now available as an audio book through Audible.com: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The-Crooked-Maid-Audiobook/B00DLKYFLQ?source_code=AUDORWS0827149ASQ&
Aug 20: Reading at the Edinburgh International Book Festival tomorrow night with Julia Franck. Very excited to meet her — she is such a wonderful writer! ‘The Human Cost of War’: 21 August, 8.30 PM at the Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre. https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/julia-franck-dan-vyleta Hope to see you there!
Feb 22, 2014: Just found Esi Edugyan’s review of The Crooked Maid in today’s Guardian. “Every gesture is so acutely rendered that we enter a kind of eerie parallel world almost beyond reality. This is not just the past: it is the past as seen fractured and magnified through a lens. It is a place of unremitting strangeness, as real and as true to its own logic as those of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go or Tom McCarthy’s Remainder.In the end, though, what The Crooked Maid most closely resembles is the angular cinema of shadows of the early German expressionists. It has the darkness and seductive excitement of a Metropolis, or a Cabinet of Dr Caligari. You enter it sideways, and your head spins.” Boy, she can write! Thank you, Esi! http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/22/crooked-maid-dan-vyleta-review
Feb 20, 2014: A new review in Metro (London): “A literary novel that reads like a spy thriller”. I must confess it is nice to think that a gazillion Londoners have been reading this on their way to work. http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/20/armistead-maupin-dan-vyleta-and-marc-pastor-new-fiction-reviewed-4310388/
Jan 28, 2014: New reviews keep coming in. The Mail on Sunday named The Crooked Maid their Novel of the Week:
“A chance meeting on a train between two strangers returning to their home city after the war sets in motion a literary thriller that is so dripping in atmosphere, you half expect Orson Welles to come creeping out of the shadows. … Vyleta’s third novel is a dark tale of intrigue, interconnected mysteries, hunger, guilt, patricide and revenge. A seriously good novel from a fine writer.”
And the Independent on Sunday writes: “The writing is often stunning. … This is a compelling novel with all the verve and atmosphere of an Alfred Hitchcock film.” I wish Hitch was around to make the film! http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/book-review-the-crooked-maid-by-dan-vyleta-9083010.html
Jan 26, 2014: Bienvenue chez alto: In all the excitement about the publication of the UK edition of The Crooked Maid, I forgot to announce that alto will be publishing a French translation of both The Quiet Twin and The Crooked Maid. www.editionsalto.com Marc Charron and Caroline Lavoie will be the translators — I couldn’t be happier.
Jan 24, 2014: Great news — BBC Radio 4’s SATURDAY REVIEW is doing a review of The Crooked Maid on Feb 1, at 7.15pm. Please tune in.
Jan 9, 2014: The first UK review of THE CROOKED MAID was published in THE INDEPENDENT yesterday– and it’s a nice one. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-crooked-maid-by-dan-vyleta–book-review-vyletas-bent-on-gothic-thrills-again-in-postwar-vienna-9044900.html Official publication date: 30/1/2014. Happy New Year, everyone!
Nov 23: It’s Christmas list time. Here’s the Globe & Mail’s Top 100 books. Made the front page… 🙂 “Vyleta’s moody and atmospheric novel set in Vienna after the Second World War was a finalist for the Giller Prize, and many expected him to win. His stylish prose and complex characters deserve a wider audience; hopefully this novel’s success will bring him one.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/
Nov 17: For those who want to revisit the 2013 Scotiabank Giller night’s excitement, here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJorWOkBgy0 (I must confess I can’t actually watch it myself… very odd to be on TV!). As for the reading / discussion at Koerner Hall the night before, you can watch the whole thing here: http://www.livestream.com/gillerprize/video?clipId=pla_8fb2b99a-fdad-47fa-ae07-96287f274ed5&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb
Nov 3: Things are getting serious. The Crooked Maid is Sandra Martin’s Giller pick! No pressure, eh? http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/d/article15199338/
Oct 29: McLean’s special on the GIller Prize Short List. Boy, do I look cold there… http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/28/refuge-and-tonic/
Oct 21: A lovely review of The Crooked Maid from Friday’s Montreal Gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/touch/story.html?id=9055401
Oct 15: Writers pick their favourite Munro story in the Toronto Star. I make a case for ‘Dulse’: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/10/12/alice_munro_authors_and_book_lovers_pick_their_favourite_stories.html
Oct 8: Made the Giller Shortlist. http://www.scotiabank.com/gillerprize/0,,5813,00.html Am gobsmacked (now there is a good old English word!). Must dust off that old tuxedo… Thank you, judges!
Oct 3: CBC Books has published little Q&As with the authors longlisted for the Giller: http://www.cbc.ca/books/scotiabankgillerprize/2013/09/giller-longlist-2013-dan-vyleta-qa/
Sept 16: The Crooked Maid has been longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. http://www.scotiabank.com/gillerprize/files/13/09/news_091013.html What a great list of authors! And of judges! I am stunned.
Sept 1: A fantastic review of The Quiet Twin in Friday’s Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/08/30/the_crooked_maid_by_dan_vyleta_review.html
August 29, 2013: Just saw the latest MacLeans Fiction Bestseller list, and The Crooked Maid comes in at No. 8. Wow, just wow! Thanks everyone for your support.
August 26, 2013: Marylin Stasio from the New York Times reviews, and I almost missed it: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/books/review/a-tap-on-the-window-by-linwood-barclay-and-more.html?_r=1& Is CROOKED MAID really crime fiction? Hell, who cares!
And a lovely review by Mary Whipple on Seeing the World Through Books: http://marywhipplereviews.com/dan-vyleta-the-crooked-maid-austria-postwar-1948/
August 25, 2013: Another amazing review, this one from Heather Cromarty, in the The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/gothic-meets-thriller-in-dan-vyletas-taut-new-novel/article13936446/
August 6: The book is out today and has been welcomed by a wonderful review from this weekend’s National Post, by no less distinguished a writer than Zsuzsi Gartner. http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/08/02/book-review-the-crooked-maid-by-dan-vyleta/
Wow. I think she has read the book just as I had hoped it would be read. Thank you!
July 20: Busy month ahead: first the publication of The Crooked Maid in Canada (Harper Collins) and the United States (Bloomsbury) on August 6; then a German paperback edition of Pavel & I will hit the shelves under the title Knochenwinter. For a sneak peak of the cover, have a look at my Blog page.
July 1: And the first review (preview?) of The Crooked Maid is in, from today’s edition of Booklist:
“This book conjures up the stifling atmosphere of shame and deception of the postwar period and hints at escape through Vienna’s own “talking cure”—openness and honesty.”
Nice.
April 18: Working my way through the typeset manuscript, obsessing over small mistakes. 50 pages to go… Meanwhile, the jacket is almost finished — take a sneak peek on the Blog page!
December 23: A new (and very nice) review of The Quiet Twin by the writer and critic Gint Aras on thegoodmanproject.com: A Benign Man in Bad Times.
December 18: The line edits for The Crooked Maid have arrived and staring at me accusingly from the depths of my (too full) inbox. I am staring back (fiercely) and girding my loins for battle.
September 23: Word on the Street Halifax would love to welcome you, as would I. I am reading at the ‘Remarkable Reads with Halifax Magazine’ Stage at 1:30 PM, and then taking to the seas on a Tall Ship. Please come and join me!
September 21: I know, things have been quiet. The thing is, I have been working. And it’s very nearly done. It even has a title: THE CROOKED MAID. For a sneak preview, come to Fables, Tatamagouche NS on Friday 21 Sept, and ask Maggie to shake up a Margarita for you… http://www.fablesclub.com/fables_events.htm
April 14: New review of The Quiet Twin in Sunday’s New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/books/review/new-books-by-lysley-tenorio-dan-vyleta-and-more.html?_r=1 Feels pretty good…
April 12: BookBrowse added a video interview to their site, shot by CityTV in Toronto last November. Is that really what I sound like? http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm/author_number/2135/dan-vyleta
March 24: I just learned that The Quiet Twin has been named a BookBrowse Editor’s Choice! A real honour, this. If you don’t know it, BookBrowse is a wonderful and widely read resource for book lovers: http://www.bookbrowse.com
March 22: Working on a reading at Halifax Word On The Street in September. Fingers crossed — Halifax is one of my favourite places; it’d be great to return.
Feb 21: Just as I was dealing with a plumbing situation today, BBC 4 aired the following glowing review of Pavel & I. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01c7pqv I feel a little ying-yanged by life… but grateful to Harriett Gilbert for her enthusiasm.
PS: Wow, the BBC sure helps spreading the word. All of a sudden the book is No 8 on Amazon’s Bestseller list (in the UK). Now I am hoping the toilet will block again!
Feb 20: A new review of The Quiet Twin from Linda L Richards in January Magazine. “A searingly good book. The temptation to reach for hyperbole is almost overwhelming.“ Very kind! For the full review, visit http://januarymagazine.blogspot.com/2012/02/fiction-quiet-twin-by-dan-vyleta.html
Feb 14: It’s official: the US edition of The Quiet Twin is out!
Feb 9: And another one! http://marywhipplereviews.com/dan-vyleta-the-quiet-twin-austria/ “Thoughtful, beautifully constructed, historically astute, and absolutely riveting to read, this is one of the best books I have read on the events leading to the Holocaust.”
Feb 8: Another very nice reviews just came in, in anticipation of the US launch: http://chicksdigbooks.com/2012/02/09/early-review-the-quiet-twin/ “The Quiet Twin is the stuff of a Hollywood Oscar contender” Thank you!
Feb 5: US book launch of The Quiet Twin at Boswell Books in Milwaukee, WI on Feb 15 at 7 PM!
February 2: The UK paperback is out, with an all-new, eye-catching cover (see my Dec 2 Blog Entry).
January 2, 2012: Gearing up towards the US publication date of The Quiet Twin. Lots of nice re(pre-?)views coming in, including a starred review from The Booklist: Dark and disturbing, a novel of rare sophistication. Nice one! For the full review, have a look at the Reviews section (makes sense, right?).
December 30: Another nice end-of-year list to find myself on, this one from the Winnipeg Free Press. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/sentimental-favourites–4-5-136470323.html Thank you, and go Jets!
November 17: The Quiet Twin is on Amazon Canada’s List of the Best Books of 2011. http://www.amazon.ca/gp/feature.html/ref=br_lf_m_1000747361_pglink_4?ie=UTF8&plgroup=1&docId=1000747361&plpage=4 Looking through the list, it feels like a very strong crop — lots of wonderful books.
November 9: Book of the year? http://bythebookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/11/books-of-year-2011-novels.html At any rate, good company to be in!
November 1: Congratulations to Patrick deWitt for winning the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and a big thank you to all my fellow nominees — it was great fun hanging out this past week.
October 28: Another Writers’ Trust related news-story: http://canadianimmigrant.ca/news-and-views/three-immigrant-authors-chosen-as-finalists-for-prizes-in-fiction-writing/
October 25: Excerpt from The Quiet Twin in the The Globe and Mail today (along with the usual, moody picture…): http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/
October 23, 2011: Nice piece on translated fiction in the Toronto Star today — I give a little interview towards the end. The paper edition ran an old holdiday snap of myself: red-nosed and freezing in Jasper… http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/1073868–found-in-translation
October 20, 2011: Arrived at the International Festival of Authors. Here is a list of my events: http://www.readings.org/?q=biographies/dan_vyleta
October 13, 2011: Off to Calgary for WordFest. Reading on Saturday, 5th at 12.30 at the Vertigo Theatre. Then on to IFOA Toronto for various events. Should be a blast! http://www.readings.org/?q=biographies/dan_vyleta
October 6, 2011: My editor at Harper Collins tells me that The Globe and Mail will be running 500-word excerpts from the books nominated for the Writers’ Trust Prize during the week of October 24. You’d think picking and choosing would be straightforward — until you realise that your book does not come in neat 500 word chunks…
September 28, 2011: Big news — The Quiet Twin has just been shortlisted for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. http://www.writerstrust.com/News/News-%281%29/Press-Release-Archive/Press-Releases/WTA-Finalists-2011.aspx
September 18: Reading at Eden Mills Festival. Great line-up, should be a ton of fun. Come on out oh ye Gulphites (everybody else is also very welcome!). http://edenmillswritersfestival.ca/EMWF/2011-authors/adult-authors#27
July 22, 2011: First US reading of The Quiet Twin at Woodland Pattern in Milwaukee. Wisconsin. They have the most wonderful collection of poetry and hard-to-get prose. http://www.woodlandpattern.org/ Fun will be had, beer will be drunk…
July 2: A nice, short review in the Hamburger Morgenpost this morning: “a book like a film by Murnau or Lang”. I should really sit down and re-watch “M” one of these days — what a wonderful movie.
June 26: The German reviews keep rolling in, amongst them this fine review from Krimikiosk: http://krimikiosk.blogspot.com/2011/04/der-stumme-zwilling-subtil-ergreifender.html And here’s some early buzz for the US edition: http://www.sanfranciscobookreview.com/featured/6-21-11-one-reviewers-guide-to-the-best-books-of-2011-so-far/ “Heir to Graham Greene’s throne” — nice shout line! I may have to spend a day or two in an ego-deflation chamber now…
May 9: Just learned that I have been invited to read at IFOA in Toronto this October. I went a few years back and had a blast. Make sure to come, Torontoites!
April 15: Change of date for the reading at the Edinburgh Festival: I am now reading on the 17th of August at 8.30pm in the RBS Corner Theatre.
March 25: The dates for my reading tour through Germany and Austria have been confirmed. See today’s blog entry for details!
March 24: Great news – a publication date for American edition of The Quiet Twin has been set. Bloomsbury USA will be bringing it out in Feb 2012.
March 22: My reading at the Edinburgh Book Festival is confirmed: August 24, at 3.30 pm. Last time around the only beverages available in the “Writers’ Yurt” were water, coffee, and 12 year old Highland Park single malt scotch. Not that I am complaining, mind!
March 20: Just as the first frenzy of reviews was petering out, in comes a wonderful review from The Sunday Telegraph. 5 stars! See the reviews section for more details.
March 10: I received an invitation to read at the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival in mid-September. Details to follow shortly.
Feb 17, 2011: Better late than never — the Italian edition of Pavel & I – L’Uomo di Berlino – is finally out with Longanesi. 
And it comes with a very cool cover. For Italian readers, here is an early review: http://www.librinews.com/2010/12/13/fasti-bianco-nero-de-il-terzo-uomo-di-carol-reed-rivivono-nel-romanzo-luomo-di-berlino-di-dan-vyleta/
Feb 14, 2011: Listen to Harriett Gilbert and me talking about The Quiet Twin on the BBC World Service programme The Strand: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dg2vm#synopsis.
I must say that it is very exciting to be sharing the digital stage with Esperanza Spalding!
February 11, 2011: I am being spoiled with good news these days. The reviews keep rolling in, including a thumbs up from the illustrious TLS, and I have just received an invitation to the Calgary/Banff WordFest in October. I used to live in Edmonton, so I am very excited about returning to the Rockies.
February 7, 2011: The UK publication date today. And the reviews keep coming in — including a rave review from the Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-quiet-twin-by-dan-vyleta-2205546.html AND I am doing my first reading from TWIN tonight…
January 28, 2011: Another review — http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/01/28/book-review-the-quiet-twin-by-dan-vyleta/. Time to put up a new page: check out “Reviews The Quiet Twin” (see new button on the right).
January 22, 2011: I am reading in The Bookshelf in Guelph ON on the 7th of Feb. First reading of The Quiet Twin — I am really looking forward to it!
January 20, 2011: After all the announcements, the reviews are starting to come in. Today brings one from Margaret Cannon in The Globe and Mail — it’s a big thumbs up… http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/new-in-crime-fiction-a-guide-to-the-latest-mysteries-and-thrillers/article1876109/
January 12, 2011: The news stories are coming thick and fast now. Here is a very generous piece (dated 24 December!) from the Montreal Gazette, written by Richard Helm. Richard interviewed me over lunch in Edmonton some years ago, when Pavel & I had just come out. I believe I ate my first Bison burger, much to his amusement… http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Five+Canadian+authors+watchin+2011/4022074/story.html
January 10, 2011: Another nice mention in The National Post. Things to do in January/February. I am in the company of Motorhead and PJ Haevey — and Kurt Vonnegut! Very cool. http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/January/4078786/story.html
January 8, 2011: The National Post just put me on their list of “most anticipated books of 2011”. Wow — I won’t argue with them! http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/01/07/the-most-anticipated-books-of-2011/
January 3, 2011: less than four weeks now until The Quiet Twin is out. Very excited!
December 2010: news reached me today that I have been invited to The Edinburgh Book Festival in August 2011 to present The Quiet Twin. Last time I went, I had too much Scotch in the “Writers’ Yurt”…
August 2010: nice, new review of the German edition of Pavel & I (Pavel und Ich) in Krimi-Couch.
August 2010: I have a Canadian publication date for The Quiet Twin— January 29. Hoping to have a UK date very soon now.
May 2010: The Quiet Twin has acquired a cover. See my Blog for details.
May 2010: For those who understand German, or are interested to hear what Pavel & I sounds like in German – here is a recent radio interview conducted by Radio Orange 94.0 in Vienna:http://sendungsarchiv.o94.at/get.php?id=094pr4283
March 2010: Berlin Verlag has acquired the German language rights for The Quiet Twin. Which is great news, they did a fantastic job with Pavel & I, and I had great reactions from my German readers.
February 22, 2010: “The Big Speakeasy” at Fables in Tatamagouche, NS. The theme of the night is censorship. I will be reading from Solzhenitzhyn’s The First Circle…
January 2010: Just had news that Harper Collins Canada has purchased The Quiet Twin. See my blog for details.
October 28, 2009: Reading at Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University.
September 2009: On the 29th of September I will be part of panel discussion called “What is Art for anyway?” at Tatamagouche’s Fables club (see April News and Blog). Should be fun.
July 18, 2009: Off to Read by the Sea where I will have the pleasure of introducing Wayson Choy.
July 2009: July 18 and 19 belong to the Read by the Sea Literary Fesival in River John, Nova Scotia. I won’t be reading, but I will be mingling, listening, enjoying myself.
May 2009: Two readings in Germany coming up: the first at the Mayersche Buchhandlung in Gelsenkirchen-Buer (May 6, 19:30; http://www.mayersche.de/57.0.html), the second at the the Buchhandlung Goldsteinstrasse in Cologne (May 7, 20:00). Curious to see how it will feel to be reading from the German version of the book.
April 2009: My reading at the Loquacious Book Club (see March News) has been re-scheduled for April 15. This is the venue: www.fablesclub.com I am told that hand-crafted Margaritas will be served…
March 2009: The paperback edition of Pavel & I is out in Canada (distributed by Penguin.ca). Can’t wait to see it in our local bookstore.
March 2009: Just had news that a Czech publisher (Jota) has acquired Pavel & I. Nice to be published in the ancestral homeland.
March 2009: The first German reviews are beginning to roll in, including this nice endorsement from Funkhaus Europa WDR.
March 2009: Doing a (private) reading at the Loquacious Book Club in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, at the end of March. The book club was featured in a recent Globe and Mail article and convenes in what looks like a very promising bar called “Fables”.
March 2009: Just got hold of a copy of the audio version of Pavel & I (which has been out for ages with Oakhill Publishing). Very strange to hear someone else read from my book, though not as strange as reading the German translation.
Feb 2009: The paperback edition of Pavel & I is about to hit the shops in the UK.
Feb 2009: Bloomsbury UK acquires The Quiet Twin, Dan Vyleta’s second novel.
Feb 2009: The Spanish edtion of Pavel & I – Nevaba en Berlin – is published with Espasa. HAVE A LOOK!
Feb 2009: The German edition of Pavel & I – Pavel & ich – is published with Bloomsbury Berlin. HAVE A LOOK!