New Swedish Books, Spring 2018 1
17 Spring 2018 Mirja Unge (b. 1973) Passing Time
Publisher Norstedts www.norstedts.se Rights Norstedts linda.altrovberg@norstedts.se Selected Works Det var ur munnarna orden kom novel 1998 Motsols novel 2005 Var är alla plays 2015 Selected Literary Prizes Tidningen Vi:s litteraturpris 2005 Aftonbladets litteraturpris 2007 Doblougska priset 2016 Passing Time At school, at home, at parties and in town. From her sister, father, classmates, teachers and friends. Tove is never really safe. Someone’s always there, mocking, prodding, spitting, examining, hindering, controlling, getting in the way or rummaging through her stuff. How do you protect yourself against chaotic surroundings, when the people who are supposed to take care of you either close their eyes to the harassment or take part in it? The tone of Mirja Unge’s writing is dark and disharmonious. Her ability to capture and refine the obliqueness of spoken language has made her one of Sweden’s most important playwrights, but her fiction is just as stylistically unique. Her characters are often young people who, despite hopeless circumstances, fight to retain something of their integrity and their belief in others. Photo: Göran Segeholm