Welcome to explore our bookshelf! Here you can read about new books, older books, prose, poetry, comics, nonfiction, drama, books for young readers and much more. We are currently building it and the shelves will hold articles, publications and book presentations.
Swedish children’s fiction has a special kind of magic. Whether tranquil or wild, rooted in reality or bursting the bounds of the imagination, it nearly always strikes the same fundamental note: a profound respect for children as thinking people.
This booklet is for everyone interested in what’s happening in contemporary Swedish literature. You will discover promising debut authors as well as established voices. What they have in common is that they are all deemed to have the potential to reach more readers beyond Sweden’s borders.
In our new publication we introduce you to exciting children’s and YA authors writing in Swedish today. They are authors who have already found readers in other languages and have the potential to reach even more. The publication is a standalone follow-up to the edition from 2020.
In connection with the Sámi National Day, we contacted Françoise Sule, who translates into French, and asked her to share her thoughts on translating Sámi literature. Sule has translated Je suis la mer (Far inte till havet) and Vies de Samis (Herrarna satte oss hit) by Elin Anna Labba.
Swedish Literature Exchange asked theatre critic Kristina Lindquist to survey the latest themes and tendencies in contemporary Swedish drama.
Swedish Literature Exchange asked critic Kristina Lindquist to bring us up to date on the latest themes and tendencies in Swedish fiction. How is current fiction depicting the world of today?
Values, concepts, themes and titles … Bleak humour, rebellious children, gender issues, winter landscapes… Are there any particular themes or motives that might be seen as characteristic of Swedish children’s and young adult literature? A reflection by Malin Nauwerck.
In The House with the Two Towers (Huset med de två tornen), Maciej Zaremba dissects the events of his parents’ lives and how their war experiences led to an inevitable separation. Janny Middelbeek-Oortgiesen, who translates into Dutch, recommends a book that draws a finely nuanced portrait of childhood in post-war Poland.
Who Does Suzanne Osten Think She Is? is more than a magnificent and colourful portrait of one of the greatest theatre and film directors of our time. It is a portrait of a zeitgeist. Ana Valdés, who translates into Spanish, recommends Suzanne Osten’s autobiography published in 2021.
Emöke Andersson Lipcsey, who translates into Hungarian, recommends a book based on the life of the historical figure Johann Christian Woyzeck. The author Steve Sem-Sandberg uses W.’s fate to paint a shocking, true picture of how the brutality of war can affect and warp the character of the individual.
For the second year running, the Swedish Literature Exchange, the Gothenburg Book Fair, and the Swedish Institute are continuing our collaboration to share conversations about Swedish literature with a global audience.
In line with our work promoting literature in translation we are collaborating with the Gothenburg Book Fair and the Swedish Institute by making available 15 conversations with Swedish authors in five different languages.