“Victor Dixen excels at concocting unexpected detours and jaw-dropping cliffhangers. Anne Rice fans will be especially enthralled.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

On Saturday, September 7 at 3pm, join international bestselling authors Victor Dixen and Clarence A. Haynes as they discuss The Court of Shadows and The Court of Miracles, the first two installments in Dixen’s historical fantasy series Vampyria (trans. by Françoise Bui). Dixen and Haynes will also address how vampires are always relevant, from 19th century bloodsucking classics (Dracula, Carmilla) to the most recent exciting screen adaptations (Interview with The Vampire and Castlevania TV series).

Louis XIV transformed from the Sun King into the King of Shadows when he embraced immortality and became the world’s first vampire. For the last three centuries, he has been ruling the kingdom from the decadent Court of Shadows in Versailles, demanding the blood of his subjects to sate his nobles’ thirst and maintain their loyalty.

In the heart of rural France, commoner Jeanne Froidelac witnesses the king’s soldiers murder her family and learns of her parents’ role in a brewing rebellion involving the forbidden secrets of alchemy. To seek her revenge, Jeanne disguises herself as an aristocrat and enrolls in a prestigious school for aspiring courtiers. She soon finds herself at the doors of the palace of Versailles. But Jeanne, of course, is no aristocrat. She dreams not of court but of blood. The blood of a king.

The conversation will take place in English, and will be followed by a book signing. Victor Dixen’s and Clarence A. Haynes’s books will be available for purchase in French and in English.

Free with RSVP. Click here for tickets.

Two-time winner of the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, Victor Dixen stands at the forefront of French fantasy. His acclaimed series include Animale, Phobos, Cogito, Extincta, and Vampyria. A nomadic writer, he has lived in Paris, Dublin, Singapore, New York, and now Washington, DC, drawing inspiration from the promises of the future as much as the ghosts of the past. His books have been translated into 12 languages. A resounding success in France, book 1, The Court of Shadows, was published in 2023 in the US and hailed by American critics. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review.

Clarence A. Haynes is author of the forthcoming urban fantasy novel The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery (Legacy Lit) and co-author of the acclaimed YA Afrofuturist series Nubia: The Awakening and The Reckoning (Delacorte Press), written with actor/producer Omar Epps. He is also author of the nonfiction work The Legacy of Jim Crow (Penguin Workshop), published as part of the True History series for middle-grade readers. In addition to his writing, Clarence has worked as an editor for a variety of publishers in genres that include sci-fi/fantasy, YA, general fiction, history, and memoir. In this context, Clarence served as developmental editor for English language version of the Vampyria series by Victor Dixen.