Features

2021 saw the publication of an anthology of Finland-Swedish poetry covering 130 years. Swedish Book Review interviewed its editors to talk about their selection, as well as more broadly about poetry and publishing in Swedish in Finland.

We open up our archives to highlight some recent works by Finland-Swedish writers featured in SBR.

Researchers and critics Maria Lassén-Seger and Mia Österlund speak to Swedish Book Review about Finland-Swedish children’s literature and the art of literary criticism

Tom Geddes celebrates the life of Eivor Martinus, a writer, prolific translator of Swedish literature and drama, and teacher of language and literature.

Bengt Söderhäll, Chair and Co-founder of the Stig Dagerman Society, discusses Stig Dagerman’s lasting legacy and impact, and some of the events taking place to mark his centenary.
Translated by Alex Fleming

Birgitta Holm discusses the recent interest in Selma Lagerlöf, and how a new generation of readers are discovering the universal genius that she was.
Translated by Sarah Death and Linda Schenck.

Ulla Forsén explores the extensive, trans-institutional efforts that helped to secure Gothenburg's status as a City of Literature, and the long-term commitments that this will involve.
Translated by Linda Schenck.

Anna Maria Hellberg Moberg goes back to her writing roots, researching the literary heritage and contemporary authors of her native Värmland.

Ian Giles, chair of the Swedish-English Literary Translators' Association, looks back on a special year in the life of SELTA.

Elin Klemetz takes an in-depth look at what literary agents working in Sweden do, and whether having one is always in a writer's best interest.
Translated by Ian Giles.

Elin Klemetz explores how agents adjust their approach and terms according to an author’s situation.
Translated by Ian Giles.

Before the war the Swedish writer Sara Stridsberg had never had any contact with her Ukrainian publisher. When Russia invaded Ukraine she sent an email. Here she writes about the exchange that followed, the family that was forced to flee, and the place of literature in the ongoing war.
Translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner.

Bradley Harmon reflects upon Jila Mossaed’s Swedish poetry, exploring freedom, survival and the breath of poetry, and the possibilities and limitations of writing in a new language.
By Bradley Harmon.

We open up our reviews archive to highlight some of the recent gems in Swedish-language literature, through lists curated by genre and age group.

In this recent column published on the eve of war, Anna-Lena Laurén explores the crisis in Ukraine through the prism of her own family history.
Translated by D.E. Hurford.

Anna Maria Hellberg Moberg investigates the phenomenon of self-translation, its advantages and pitfalls.

Alexander Keiller discusses the ever-changing shape of the subtitling industry.

We report on Gothenburg Book Fair's first hybrid fair.