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Writing the Pandemic event

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Issue number: Writing the Pandemic event

live event

Writing the Pandemic: Exploring Fear & Uncertainty in Fiction & Non-Fiction

Critically acclaimed authors Johan Anderberg and Jessica Schiefauer in conversation with Swedish Book Review

Thursday 2 December, chaired by Alice E. Olsson

The past 18+ months have seen a surge in interest in pandemic literature, across both fiction and non-fiction. But what can these works tell us about the times we live in, and what can they tell us about ourselves? With their latest books The Herd and The Carriers, critically acclaimed Swedish writers Johan Anderberg and Jessica Schiefauer each explore the theme of pandemics – from the perspective of non-fiction and fiction. In December 2021 they joined Swedish Book Review to discuss their works, responses to fear and uncertainty, and the different roles that fiction and non-fiction can play in approaching crises that are still unfolding.

Johan Anderberg and Jessica Schiefauer
Johan Anderberg. Photo: Sara Mac Key. Jessica Schiefauer. Photo: Ola Kjelbye

View a recording of the event:

Read extracts from The Herd and The Carriers

About

About the Panel

Johan Anderberg is a journalist and writer from Helsingborg, Sweden. As a journalist, he has written on a regular basis for a number of Swedish and international media outlets. He has previously written the non-fiction book Cannabusiness as well as a political thriller. His latest book The Herd (2021), which chronicles the Swedish strategy to battle COVID-19, will be published in English by Scribe in 2022 (tr. Alice E. Olsson).

Jessica Schiefauer has established herself as one of Sweden's foremost writers of literary young adult and adult fiction. She has won the August Prize twice for her books Girls Lost (English edition published in 2020 by Deep Vellum, tr. Saskia Vogel) and The Eyes of the Lake, and her books have been translated into several languages and adapted into theatre and film. Her latest novel The Carriers (2020), written largely before the coronavirus outbreak, depicts a speculative world shaped by the aftermath of a pandemic. She lives in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Alice E. Olsson (event chair) is a literary translator, writer, and editor working across Swedish and English. She has published translated works in both languages. From 2018 to 2019, she served as the Cultural Affairs Adviser at the Swedish Embassy in London. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Comparative Literature at University College London, specialising in speculative fiction and human rights law. Alice is the editor of the ‘New Books’ section of Swedish Book Review. She lives somewhere in the Swedish mountains.