Sara Paretsky revolutionized the mystery world with her fictional detective, V I Warshawski. With a woman who uses her wits as well as her fists, Paretsky challenged a genre in which women traditionally were either vamps or victims. In addition to her best-selling series of crime novels, Paretsky has edited three short story collections and now, most recently published the memoir Writing in an Age of Silence (London: Verso Books, May, 2007).

Paretsky’s deep-rooted concern for social justice, the hallmark of her novels, has carried her voice beyond the world of crime fiction. As a frequent contributor to The New York Times and The Guardian, and a speaker at such places as the Library of Congress and Oxford University, she is an impassioned advocate for those on society’s margins.

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