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?
Reviews
Compiled and edited by Henning Koch
REVIEW
Den larmande hopens dal
Erik Andersson's novel takes the reader on an odyssey through the province of Västergötland, aptly compared by one character to the Iowa corn belt in the United States.
REVIEW
Hästen från porten: ett österländskt ävertyr
Carina Burman’s witty and thoroughly researched pastiche on Victorian detective stories.
REVIEW
Barndom
Bo Carpelan's impressionistic description of the life of a small boy from infancy to 13 years of age in 1930s Finland.
REVIEW
Den sista vintern
Together with Mankell and Nesser, Åke Edwardson represents the best in modern Swedish crime fiction.
REVIEW
Ett annat liv
When is an autobiography a novel? The question is relevant because Enquist’s book won the 2008 August Prize – in the fiction category.
REVIEW
Himmel
Torbjörn Flygt’s novel inspires admiration for his competence and expertise in handling a complicated narrative.
REVIEW
Fienden inom oss
Contrary to the conventional police drama, Jan Guillou's novel raises more questions than it answers, not only about the guilt or otherwise of those eventually convicted, but also about the destruction of aspects of democracy by the very processes that are supposed to protect it.
REVIEW
Vänner och älskare
Theodor Kallifatides has given us an affectionate portrait of people who are not afraid of opening their hearts. It is a rare and tender novel.
REVIEW
Glädjestranden
Ellen Matsson's inheritance story is part psychological drama, part minutely-observed social history, part poetry.
REVIEW
Edelcrantz förbindelser
The protagonist of Malte Persson's historical novel, like a more solemn and scientifically-inclined Mrs. Dalloway, is surrounded by interesting individuals with stories of their own.
REVIEW
Anders Sparrmans resa – en biografisk roman
Per Wästberg’s biographical novel of one of Carl Linné’s most inscrutable apostles.
REVIEW
Orgelbyggaren
Robert Åsbacka's novel on the search for art in everyday life, with characters who are ordinary people appreciative of Beckett’s plays and Baroque organ music.
Poetry
REVIEW
I ett förskingrat nu
The past, the sense of its presence, is scattered through the present of Eva Runefelt's poems.
Non-fiction
REVIEW
Hon var ingen Florence Nightingale
Åsa Moberg has written a remarkable biography of Nightingale that deals with the many aspects of her impressive work, not only her nursing but also her activities as a major feminist.















