Iceland Noir Literature Festival is another big event in Iceland in November, adding more flavour into this dark winter month in Reykjavík alongside more established festivals like Iceland Airwaves and Reykjavík Dance Festival. Iceland Noir celebrates darkness in all forms and started in 2013 as a celebration of crime fiction but has evolved and grown in scope during the years to welcome writers and creatives from other genres as well.
This year’s festival takes place from November 12 to 15 in various locations across downtown Reykjavík. The schedule includes local and foreign authors, many that you may have read and others you may want to read following their events. In addition, panels and interviews include representatives from film and television as well as poets and translators. The program this year features George R.R. Martin, Hwang Dong-hyuk, Nicola Sturgeon and Siri Hustvedt.
George R. R. Martin is among the most influential voices in modern fantasy literature, writer of the epic series A Song of Ice and Fire, that turned into the mega hit series The Game of Thrones. He started writing science fiction and fantasy short stories in the early 1970s and later helped bridge the gap between literature and television through his work as Executive Producer on the Dark Winds TV show and short film adaptations of the late great Howard Waldrop stories.
Squid Game became a global phenomenon and was the first series of Director Hwang Dong-hyuk. The series amassed 1.65 billion viewing hours within its first 28 days and remains Netflix’s most popular series of all time. Dong-hyuk is this year’s guest of honour.
Nicola Sturgeon served as First Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023 and led the Scottish National Party. She was the first woman to lead Scotland’s government and played a prominent role in key political moments including the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and Brexit. Her autobiography, Frankly, released in August 2025, offers a deeply personal and revealing account of her rise from a working-class upbringing in Ayrshire to her years in public office, with reflections on her achievements and regrets.
Siri Hustvedt is a novelist, essayist, and scholar known for exploring neuroscience, philosophy, and identity in her work. Her much praised and bestselling novels include What I Loved, The Blazing World, and Memories of the Future. Siri has also written extensively on art, psychiatry, and feminism. Hustvedt holds a Ph.D. in English literature and has received numerous literary and academic honors. Her work blends fiction and intellectual inquiry, making her a distinctive voice in contemporary literature.
Find the full schedule of Iceland Noir 2025 here.
