The prize was established to recognise “the best in Swedish literature,” says Mikaela Zabrodsky, chair of the Swedish Publishers Association, at Monday’s press conference. “No one has a better overview than the three jury groups that make the nominations,” she adds.
The chair of the fiction jury, librarian Max Edenborg, does not want to say why “Ultravåld” was not included.
“We have found six titles that we can’t get past, that we simply love. At the same time, I fully understand that readers have other favourites,” he says.
AI robot
Klas Östergren can celebrate his fourth nomination. Compared with his previous novels, he finds it hard to see why “Inkokt ruda” was selected. In the novel, he explores, among other things, the boundary between humans and an AI robot - the suffering Werther 2.0.
The idea of an artificial person who doesn’t really work is very funny. It’s like having a naughty teenager in the house who doesn’t close the fridge the way you want and who only has one thing on his mind, says Östergren, who stresses that the novel is primarily about people.
At the end there is a poem I’ve been writing for 25 years, which has finally been given its proper context. It’s dear to my heart - a whole life story, really. It’s a portrait of a marriage.
Inger Edelfeldt, in turn, hopes that her novel “Beauty” being nominated will boost the entire writing community.
“I’m old at the game, but until recently there’s only been a bit of a stir around this book. I wanted to write a book about what I experienced as a hot potato, and apparently I succeeded,” she says.
Shame
“Beauty” is about Laura, who is almost 60, and what Edelfeldt calls “the double shame” - that you should ideally be very beautiful, but that it’s embarrassing to try too hard. At its core, she says, it is a novel of ideas about identity and existence.
I usually recommend chapter 39, as it contains a proposed solution to this problem, but not everyone notices it.
However, she herself believes that Magnus Dahlström will win this year’s fiction prize for his novel “Winter,” about a Sweden where temperatures drop to -49 degrees.
It was not my intention to write a climate book, but to use the cold as a force majeure and a metaphor for the spiritual climate in society, he says.
Ingela Strandberg, nominated for the literary prize for the poetry collection “Under the Lakes”:
It means a lot. People know I exist. That’s especially important if you’re a poet - you need to be in the spotlight.
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Lina Gustafsson, nominated for the non-fiction prize for “From the Depths: About the Inner Life of Fish, Fishing and a Growing Food Industry”:
I have spoken to many researchers who give a very consistent picture: fish have just as many emotions as other animals. We know they can feel pain; they get stressed - in the salmon industry, there are problems with some salmon becoming depressed.
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Viveka Sjögren, nominated for the Children’s and Young Adult Prize for the children’s book “Song for Valencia,” about a grounded ship:
It’s a commentary on everything that’s going on right now, in some way. The hope is that the story is permeated with collaboration. They don’t even speak the same language, but still want to help each other.
They are stuck for a long time, but the sad captain builds an organ. When he plays it, whales come and help them get free.
Fiction book of the year:
“Winter” by Magnus Dahlström
“Beauty” by Inger Edelfeldt
“Adrian” by Maxim Grigoriev
“Night Season” by Karolina Ramqvist
“Under the Lakes” by Ingela Strandberg
“Inkokt ruda” by Klas Östergren
This year’s non-fiction book:
“The Scapegoat: The Rise and Fall of Police Chief Liljensparre” by Tomas Eriksson
“From the Depths: About the Inner Lives of Fish, Fishing and a Growing Food Industry” by Lina Gustafsson
“Vasa’s Testament: A History of the Language We Call Swedish” by Patrik Hadenius
“Open Your Hearts: The Story of How Islam Became Sweden’s Second-Largest Religion and the Sweden Democrats the Country’s Second-Largest Party” by Simon Sorgenfrei
“When I Died” by Per Svensson
“The Boy with the Teddy Bear: The Hidden Children - and the Struggle That Changed Sweden” by Michael Verdicchio
Children’s and Young Adult Book of the Year:
“It’s About You That I Write” by Moa Backe Åstot
“The Nasty Club” by Emelie Franc and Hanna Klinthage
“If You Meet a Silverfish” by Malin Kivelä, Martin Glaz Serup and Linda Bondestam
“What I Find in the Gutter” by Aron Landahl
“Actually Kind” by Johan Rundberg
“Song for Valencia” by Viveka Sjögren
Little August Prize:
“Solar Power” by Lea Andersson
“Is Crazy Is Crazy Is Crazy” by Signe Firpo
“You, Liberated” by Fia Koné
“Almost” by Stina Salzer
“Dream Game” by Edith Svärd
“Late Summer Sorrow” by Alma Åhrén