Swedish Book Review 2016:2

Editor:
Deborah Bragan-Turner

E-mail:

2016:2 Issue

Editorial

When the Man Booker International prize was awarded this year, shared equally between the author and translator, the Financial Times (26 May 2016) reported that sales of translated fiction in the UK have more than doubled in the last fifteen years and pointed to the growth in the number of independent publishers championing translated literature. Earlier this year the organisers of the 2016 Oxford-Weidenfeld Prize announced ‘impressive’ submissions, predominantly from independent publishers. Dedalus Books’ Reading Europe initiative (Guardian, 24 March 2016) made its own case for Britain remaining in the EU with a selection of European novels translated into English, all from independent publishers in the UK. Our own publisher, Norvik Press, appeared in this list more than once. It is 30 years since Norvik Press was founded as an independent, not-for-profit publisher specialising in Nordic literature and as it celebrates its anniversary we talk to managing editor and co-founder, Janet Garton, about its continuing success.

The late Helena Forsås-Scott was an active contributor to SBR and had a particular interest in 19th- and 20th-century Swedish women’s writing, researching and publishing extensively on writers such as Elin Wägner, Selma Lagerlöf, Kerstin Ekman, Moa Martinson and Sara Lidman. In this issue we present an article on Elin Wägner she completed for SBR shortly before her death in a collaborative project with translator Sarah Death. Kerstin Ekman features in this issue too, in an extract translated by Linda Schenck from Ekman’s latest biographical work, in which she has drawn a fascinating and sensitive portrait of Clas Bjerkander, the 18th-century entomologist and botanist who considered himself more than fortunate to live when he did.

In our wide-ranging mixture of journalism, biography and fiction, we travel from the 18th to the 21st century and in the course of our journey celebrate two centenaries. It is one hundred years since the birth of Karin Lannby, the notorious Swedish actress, writer and spy; translator Ian Hinchliffe introduces AndersThunberg’s true story of her fascinating life with two translated extracts. It is also one hundred years since the publication of the novella Regnbågen by Finland-Swedish author Runar Schildt, represented here in extracts introduced and translated by Anna-Lisa and Martin Murrell. We move to the late 20th century with a translation by Chris Hall from a short story by one of Sweden’s most esteemed authors, Torgny Lindgren, and leap forward to a frightening view of Europe’s future in an extract from Alexander Koistinen’s debut novel, translated by Ian Giles.

And as usual, to give a flavour of the many exciting books currently being published in Swedish, we end with a selection of reviews of fiction and non- fiction.

www.yourwatch.ca www.replicaawatches.com

Helena Forsås-Scott 1945-2015

Sarah Death and Linda Schenck

Sarah Death and Linda Schenck present their obituary to Helena Forsås-Scott, retired Professor of Swedish and Gender Studies at University College London, who died in July 2015.

'Yes, Of Course It Hurts'

Karin Boye

Translated by David McDuff

Karin Boye’s much-loved poem was first written as a fiftieth birthday present for her fellow author Elin Wägner, in 1932. The poem, it could be said, is about the pain of daring to let go – even when that letting go will lead to a beautiful end. At Helena’s request, the poem was read at her funeral in Edinburgh in July 2015.

Easy and Fun: Elin Wägner's Light-Hearted Articles in the Helsingborg Post

Helena Forsås-Scott

Introduced and with translated extracts by Sarah Death

Today the Swedish writer Elin Wägner (1882-1949) is known as a radical pacifist and pioneering ecofeminist. But she began her career as a journalist on a conservative newspaper, the Helsingborg Post. Sarah Death introduces, with a mixture of pleasure and heavy heart, the last of Helena Forsås-Scott's many collaborative projects for Swedish Book Review, looking at Wägner's light-hearted articles in the newspaper and illustrated with two enlightening extracts from these articles.

from In Those Days Everything was Lively and Lovely

Kerstin Ekman

Translated and introduced by Linda Schenck

Kerstin Ekman's latest book is a biographical work, beautifully illustrated, in which she has drawn a fascinating and sensitive portrait of Clas Bjerkander, the eighteenth-century entomologist and botanist who considered himself more than fortunate to live when he did. Linda Schenck introduces the new biography and presents her translation of Ekman's brief introductory essay to the work.

from Karin Lannby: Ingmar Bergman's Mata Hari

Anders Thunberg

Introduced and translated by Ian Hinchliffe

Karin Lannby – Ingmar Bergman’s Mata Hari, written by the Swedish journalist Anders Thunberg, tells the true story of a Swedish socialite who became a radical left-winger in her teens, volunteered as an interpreter in the Spanish Civil War and was recruited as a spy by the Spanish film director, Luis Buñuel, at the tender age of just 21. Ian Hinchliffe introduces this account of her fascinating life and presents two translated extracts.

Norvik Press Celebrates 30 Years

SBR interviews Janet Garton, Professor Emeritus of Scandinavian Studies at the University of East Anglia and a founder of Norvik Press, an independent publishing house specialising in Nordic literature, based at University College London. This year Norvik Press, which has brought many shining examples of both contemporary and classical Scandinavian literature to British readers, celebrates its thirtieth anniversary.

from Twilight over Europe

Alexander Koistinen

Introduced and translated by Ian Giles

Alexander Koistinen is a Swede with an extensive background in the defence sector who is now based in Brussels. Koistinen's debut novel is set in the not-too-distant future in a world where Sweden has become a republic, the state of Belgium has collapsed, and the EU runs a protectorate in central Brussels while other parts of the city succumb to sharia law. Ian Giles introduces Koistinen's work and presents his translation of an extract from the beginning of the novel.

from The Rainbow

Runar Schildt

Introduced and translated by Anna-Lisa Murrell and Martin Murrell

The Finland-Swedish author Runar Schildt (1888-1925) set his novella Regnbågen (The Rainbow) in a village south of Lovisa in the middle of the Crimean War, in 1855, with menacing British warships on the horizon in the Gulf of Finland. It broke new ground when it was published in October 1916. Anna-Lisa Murrell and Martin Murrell mark the centenary of its publication with an introduction and their translation of extracts from the novella.

from In Streaky Leaf's Water

Torgny Lindgren

Introduced and translated by Chris Hall

Torgny Lindgren, from Raggsjö in northern Sweden, is one of his country's best known writers. Chris Hall presents an introduction to Lindgren and a translation of an excerpt from a collection of short stories published in 1999, a series of apparently disparate tales which nevertheless all display the author's exploration of the relationship between art (or indeed artists) and life, a hefty theme which greatly benefits from the humour and lightness of touch which have become his hallmark.