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FIDELMA'S ARCHIVES
NEW PETER TREMAYNE/PETER BERRESFORD ELLIS INTERVIEW Peter Tremayne has recently been interviewed by the leading German online literary magazine Das Literaturportal. For those who wish to read the interview in the original German, CLICK HERE. The same interview in English may be viewed HERE.
The third English language audio book of Sister Fidelma's adventures, Dancing With Demons, has just been released by Soundings, part of the UK based Isis Publishing Ltd., Whitley Bay, England. ISBN 978-4079-0431-3. The audio book comes on 11 CDs with a running time of 13 hours. The reading is by Irish actress Caroline Lennon. Caroline comes from Co. Wicklow. She studied at the famous Old Vic Theatre School. As well as appearing in films, such as Brian Blessed's production of `King Lear' (1999). radio, such as BBC's long running series `The Archers', and in television and theatre, Caroline has read several books for audio production. Peter tells us that he is delighted with her presentation. `Listening to Caroline reading, I am confirmed that I should not be reading my own work. I tried to avoid it at literary gatherings. She has the right musical accent. This is how Fidelma really should be read for public performance.' Dancing With Demons has been preceded on audio books by A Prayer for the Damned and Valley of the Shadow. Seven audio books in German on CD have already been produced by the Germans while several titles have also been read for Books for the Blind in Dutch and in English for the USA.
Peter Tremayne (in the blue shirt) with l. to r. historical crime writers Anne Perry, Ben Pastor and Italian journalist Gioia Giudici, addressing an audience in the abbey cloisters of Bobbio, in the Appenine Mountains. Bobbio was founded by the Irish monk St Columbanus in AD 613. Kasey Lansdale (in dark glasses and blonde hair) opens the proceedings with a song. SISTER FIDELMA’S GODFATHER DIES
Peter Haining bought the first Sister Fidelma short story in 1993 for one of his many anthologies but, when the story was submitted, the name of the character was `Sister Buan’. He asked Peter Tremayne if he could rethink the name as he felt it did not sound exactly right for the character. Tremayne has long acknowledged that without his intervention there might have been no Sister Fidelma or the amazing popularity that the series has received. Peter Haining wrote his account of this as `The Naming of Sister Fidelma’ in the very first issue of The Brehon (Vol. 1, No 1, February, 2002). A friend of Peter Tremayne since 1964, Peter Haining was born in 1940 and began his career as a journalist, became Publishing Director of New English Library before becoming a full-time author. He has written fiction and non-fiction and co-authored with Peter Tremayne The Un-Dead: The Legend of Bram Stoker and Dracula (Constable, 1997) a study on how Stoker came to write his Gothic classic. Haining was considered one of the most prolific of anthology editors as well as producing his own novels and factual books. In fact, both Peters were working on another joint non-fiction book that was due to be delivered to their published next Spring. `I was speaking to him about this project just a few hours before his death,’ said Peter Tremayne. Peter Haining leaves a widow, Philippa, sons Richard and Sean, and a daughter, Gemma. SISTER FIDELMA’S CREATOR IN BRITTANY - TREMAYNE AT BRETON BOOK FAIR Peter Tremayne was a guest at the Festival du Livre en Bretagne on November 24 and 25. This is the Breton Book Fair held at Gwenrann (Guérande). Peter was asked to say a few words at the opening of the book fair and surprised the audience by making a short address in the Breton language for which he received great applause. As well as signing books in French and copies of the Breton language magazine Al Liamm, in which Fidelma short stories have appeared, Peter took part in a discussion in Breton, French and English entitled `Soeur Fidelma `Un Sherlock Holmes ou VIIe siecle?’ Breton author Annaig Renault chaired the discussion. International Fidelma Society member Herve Latimier, who translated some of the Fidelma stories into Breton, talked about the Fidelma stories and their impact on him and questioned the author of aspects of the books while Sten Charbonneau provided the translation into French. The discussion was opened to questions from the audience.
Peter and Dorothy were guests of the organisers at Gwenrann for the period of the book fair before going to Rennes where he signed books at the leading bookshops of Librairie Le Failler and L’Encre de Bretagne. Ouest France, Le Telegramme, Progrès Cornouaille and other Breton newspapers interviewed him about his books. Peter and Dorothy then toured some locations in Brittany for locations for a future Fidelma book. The examined Mont Dol and St Malo. At St Malo archaeologist Dr Catherine Bizien-Jaglin gave him a personal tour of the ancient site of the city of Alet, whose remains dated back long before the Roman invasion of Gaul. But Peter was especially interested in Landévennec, where the museum opened especially for him (being closed outside the summer period). Here the folklorist and collector of Breton songs, Patrick Malrieu, the president of the Breton Cultural Council, entertained Peter and his wife, and took them around the site of the ancient abbey, founded in the 5th Century by St Guénolé. Peter told Ouest France that he found in the perfect site for a future Fidelma mystery. Peter was voted best mystery series author of the year (2007) in a survey conducted by Univers Poche recently.
The first Sister Fidelma stories ever to appear in a Celtic language have just been issued. No, perhaps sadly not in her native Irish, but in Breton. The August 2007 issue (no 363) of the leading Breton language literary journal Al Liamm devoted the entire 110 page magazine to Sister Fidelma. There is an introduction by Herve Latimier, an article on The International Sister Fidelma Society by your director and editor - and a lengthy article on Fidelma and her creator by Professor Per Denez, the well known Celtic scholar. Per Denez (formerly of Rennes University) has known Peter since the 1960s and long been an admirer of his work, not the least an admirer of the Fidelma stories. The rest of the magazine carries three Fidelma stories translated by Jean-Michel Mahe, Ninnog Latimer and Herve Latimer. Even if you don't read Breton, one of the six modern Celtic languages, this is a collector's item. Go onto the Internet at www.AlLiamm.com to order your copy now! The Tipperary Star and The Nationalist (Clonmel), February 17, 2007 SISTER FIDELMA TO BE GRAND MARSHAL IN CASHEL - UPDATED!!
The person appointed is usually a person of note, somebody held in high respect in the community, someone who has stood out in a special way from his peers. It is a way of giving the person recognition or thanking him/her for a major contribution to the community.
The nun-sleuth has brought an enormous amount of publicity to the town of Cashel and deserves to be recognised for her efforts. Fidelma is an exciting person, twenty-seven years old, red hair, skilled in the arts of self-defence, an outstanding horsewoman and trained to the second-highest level in the Brehon Laws, having achieved the position of dalaigh. She is brilliant at solving murder mysteries and is called to travel throughout Munster solving them.
She resides on the Rock of Cashel with her brother, King Colgú in the seventh century. She is on leave from her convent and is leading a solitary existence ouside her community. Her only companion is a Saxon monk, Eadulf, with whom she has entered a trial marriage, from which a child has been born. Eadulf is also skilled at solving mysteries and usually travels with Fidelma. The person to play the part of St. Fidelma has still to be finalised. Such a person will have to be a skilled horsewoman, as she will have to lead the parade on horseback. She will have to be dressed in a way that will simulate a character like Fidelma from the seventh century. It hasn’t yet been decided whether Brother Eadulf will travel side by side with her. There might be a virtue in giving the horse a companion as it may be a frightening walk down through a crowded street. The idea of a Grand Marshall and the choice of Sr. Fidelma to fill it have to give a fillip to the parade. It should definitely attract publicity to it from outside the town. If the idea is a success it may open the way for recognising special people in this way in future years.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAMNED PRAISED A Prayer for the Damned is a blessing for the millions of Sister Fidelma's devoted fans around the world. Tremayne's super-sleuth is a vibrant creation, a woman of wit and courage who would be outstanding in any era, but brings a special sparkle to the wild beauty of medieval Ireland. The author sets the scene with meticulous care and develops the plot with intelligence. He always plays fair with his readers, but surprises abound. Half the fun of the Fidelma series is trying to guess what this remarkable woman will do next. Well done! - Morgan Llywelyn, best-selling author of Lion of Ireland, Finn Mac Cool, The Last Prince of Ireland, Horse Goddess
SISSY HÖFFERER: THE FIRST ACTRESS TO PLAY SISTER FIDELMA
She took the part in the German radio station WDR5's production Tod im Skriptorium (Suffer Little Children). This was broadcast in two parts last July, with a repeat broadcast in October. Tod im Skriptorium is now available on a commercial twin CD set published by Der Audio Verlag GmbH (January, 2006). The recording is in stereo. Its running time is 106 minutes. ISBN 3-89813-524-1. Information at www.der-audio-verlag.de Sissy is well known in Europe and has taken the lead in many television and radio dramas. She started her career with the Munich Resident Theatre in 1977. She has also appeared in the controversial movie of a youth's coming of age in Nazi Germany `Before the Fall', directed by Dennis Gansel and released in July, 2004. Readers of the Fidelma novels will recall that Brother Eadulf did not appear in Suffer Little Children and she is accompanied to Ros Ailithir by a Cashel warrior named Cass. His part is taken in the dramatisation by Hans-Werner Meyer while Colgú is played by Thomas Balor Martin. The translation was by Friedrich Baadke and the dramatsation by Stefan Ripplinger.
OFFICIAL HOME OF THE SOCIETY WHEN IN CASHEL!
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One of the most exciting prospects for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the appointment of a Grand Marshal. More associated with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York, or in other American cities, it is an American rather than an Irish concept.)
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