“The 500 years following the fall of the Western Roman Empire were dubbed by the poet Petrarch 'dark.' Although the 14th-century Italian was referring to a literary decline, the term caught on to denote the seemingly backward turn the Western world took with regard to religious and technological developments.”

Canadian journalist, editor, and crime fiction authority

Sarah Weinman is a Canadian journalist, editor, and crime fiction authority. She is known for her work on crime writing and for her book The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World. The book examines the kidnapping and captivity of 11-year-old Florence Sally Horner by a serial child molester, a case widely believed to have influenced Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. It drew attention in reviews from NPR, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe.