2009:1 Issue

Editorial2009:1 Issue

Let us be upbeat in downbeat times. Everything seems to be coming together, and we can justifiably talk of a new Swedish wave.The seemingly unstoppable Stieg Larsson juggernaut steams on. Kenneth Branagh drew huge audiences for his BBC appearances as Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander. This led Boyd Tonkin of The Independent to write in December 2008: “Now we can realistically expect that Henning Mankell’s beyond-genre novels will pick up a substantially enhanced UK readership. They will enjoy the books thanks to the top-level translations by Laurie Thompson, Steven T Murray and Ebba Segerberg. [...] Nordic crime fiction has dug a deep and relatively cosy niche on these shores.” Meanwhile, the UK release of Tomas Alfredson’s box-office success, a poetic and chilling horror film based on the novel Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (now published in English by Quercus, and as Let Me In in the USA by T .Dunne), is eagerly anticipated.

Add to all this the impact of Sweden’s Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2009. Top-class concerts, an Ingmar Bergman film season, and a host of other events are bound to boost the Swedish cultural profile further (for details,see our News & Views page). So what better time to bring our readers another wide-ranging sampler of what Swedish writing has to offer?

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Unchanged Unending

Jonas Hassen Khemiri

Translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles

Enjoy a short story from the latest volume by cultural iconoclast Jonas Hassen Khemiri, whose last appearance in SBR has prompted more enquiries than any other item we have published.

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from Fall from Grace in Wilmslow

David Lagercrantz

Translated by Marlaine Delargy

David Lagercrantz’s take on a very British story makes an unusual “crime” novel out of the odd life of Bletchley Park mathematical genius Alan Turing in Fall from Grace in Wilmslow.

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from Silent Seas

Isabella Lövin

Translated by Peter Linton

Isabella Lövin’s tenacious investigative journalism has won her prizes for spotlighting the environmental catastrophe threatening the modern oceans in her Silent Seas.

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from The Art of Flight

Fredrik Sjöberg

Translated and introduced by Linda Schenck

Fredrik Sjöberg's latest book, as hard to categorise as all his work, is about landscape painter Gunnar Widforss, who became much loved in the USA.

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from Buster's Ears

Maria Ernestam

Translated by Laura A. Wideburg

Buster's Ears, the second novel by Maria Ernestam, leaps beyond conventional genres so that Swedish critics invented the word "Ernestamian" to describe the poetic blend of internal and external dialogue, realism and fantasy.

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from Penwoman

Elin Wägner

Translated by Sarah Death

Elin Wägner was a pioneering female journalist and also later known as an environmental campaigner, notably in Alarm Clock. Her early work Penwoman is the novel par excellence of the Swedish women’s suffrage movement, stylistically assured and skilfully plotted.

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Beyond Crime Fiction, Handbags and Designer Suits

Jonas Thente

Translated by Sarah Death

Jonas Thente of Dagens nyheter helps us orientate ourselves with his survey of recent trends. This essay was first published on the Eurozine website and is reproduced with permission.

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The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Erik Titusson

In the field of children’s books, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award has established a growing international reputation; its new director, Erik Titusson, introduces its work.

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The Gothenburg Book Fair 2008

Sarah Death

Sarah Death reports from the Gothenburg Book Fair 2008.

Reviews

Erik Andersson, Den larmande hopens dal (The Valley of the Clamorous Crowd)

Albert Bonniers Förlag,  2008. ISBN: 9789100120188

Reviewed by Linda Schenck ▸Read Review

Carina Burman, Hästen från porten: ett österländskt ävertyr (The Ottoman Horse: An Eastern Adventure)

Albert Bonniers Förlag,  2008. ISBN: 9789100117290

Reviewed by Sarah Death ▸Read Review

Bo Carpelan, Barndom (Childhood)

Albert Bonniers Förlag,  2008. ISBN: 9789100120450

Reviewed by Eric Dickens ▸Read Review

Tim Davys, Lanceheim

Albert Bonniers Förlag,  2008. ISBN: 9789100120863

Reviewed by Kevin Halliwell ▸Read Review

Åke Edwardson, Den sista vintern (The Final Winter)

Norstedts,  2008. ISBN: 9789113017518

Reviewed by Irene Scobbie ▸Read Review

Per Olov Enquist, Ett annat liv (Another Life)

Norstedts,  2008. ISBN: 9789113018936

Reviewed by Ross Shideler ▸Read Review

Torbjörn Flygt, Himmel (Sky)

Norstedts,  2008. ISBN: 9789113018584

Reviewed by Tuva Tod ▸Read Review

Jan Guillou, Fienden inom oss (The Enemy Within)

Pirat,  2007. ISBN: 9789185625697

Reviewed by Margaret Dahlström ▸Read Review

Theodor Kallifatides, Vänner och älskare (Friends and Lovers)

Albert Bonniers Förlag,  2008. ISBN: 9789100120429

Reviewed by Eivor Martinus ▸Read Review

Sven Olov Karlsson, Amerikahuset (The American House)

Natur och kultur,  2008. ISBN: 9789127115743

Reviewed by Tom Geddes ▸Read Review

Ellen Mattson, Glädjestranden (The Joyous Shore)

Albert Bonniers Förlag,  2008. ISBN: 9789100112998

Reviewed by Sarah Death ▸Read Review

Åsa Moberg, Hon var ingen Florence Nightingale (She Was No Florence Nightingale)

Natur och kultur,  2008. ISBN: 9789127114821

Reviewed by Anna-Lisa Murrell ▸Read Review

Malte Persson, Edelcrantz förbindelser (The Liaisons of Edelcrantz)

Albert Bonniers Förlag,  2008. ISBN: 9789100115524

Reviewed by Darcy Hurford ▸Read Review

Eva Runefelt, I ett förskingrat nu (In a Scattered Present)

Albert Bonniers Förlag,  2007. ISBN: 9789100113063

Reviewed by Frank Perry ▸Read Review

Per Wästberg, Anders Sparrmans resa - en biografisk roman (Anders Sparman's Journey - A Biographical Novel)

Wahlström & Widstrand,  2008. ISBN: 9789146218920

Reviewed by Henning Koch ▸Read Review

Robert Åsbacka, Orgelbyggaren (The Organ Maker)

Schildts Förlag,  2008. ISBN: 9789515017963

Reviewed by Zeljka Cernok ▸Read Review

Bestsellers from Sweden

This month's bestseller lists from Sweden (provided by Svensk bokhandel):

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