Granite Noir 2025: The Blue Hour - In Conversation with Paula Hawkins

Granite Noir 2025: The Blue Hour – In Conversation with Paula Hawkins

Chaired by Alex Clark

When a small bone at the centre of a famous sculpture is revealed to be human, three people become intimately connected by the secrets and lies that put it there. Set on a Scottish tidal island connected to the mainland for just a few hours each day, and home to only one inhabitant, The Blue Hour asks questions of ambition, power, art and perception.

Global No.1 bestselling author Paula Hawkins comes to Granite Noir to chat about her powerful new thriller and her extraordinary career. Her first thriller, The Girl on the Train, has sold more than 23 million copies worldwide, published in over fifty languages. It was turned into a hit film starring Emily Blunt, also to be screened at the festival with an introduction by the author.

One of the UK’s best storytellers – an event not to be missed!

Paula Hawkins

Paula Hawkinsworked as a journalist for fifteen years before writing her first novel. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, she moved to London in 1989. Her first thriller, The Girl on the Train, has sold more than 23 million copies worldwide. Published in over fifty languages, it has been a No.1 bestseller around the world and was a box-office-hit film starring Emily Blunt. Paula’s thrillers Into the Water and A Slow Fire Burning were also instant No.1 bestsellers. 

Alex Clark

Alex Clark is a critic, journalist and broadcaster. A co-host of Graham Norton’s Book Club, she is also a regular on Radio 4 and writes on a wide range of subjects for the Guardian, the Observer, the Irish Times and the Times Literary Supplement. She is a patron of the Cambridge Literary Festival, and has judged many literary awards, including the Booker prize. She is an experienced chair of live events, and lives in Kilkenny.