Swedish Contemporary Fiction 1
Nina WÄhÄ (b. 1979) Nina Wähä grew up in a multic
ultural family. Her Bulgarian father came to Sweden as a refugee in the late 1960s, and her mother came from a large family in the Torne River valley along the Finnish border in Sweden’s far north – an area with a border culture all its own. Four languages are spoken there: North Sámi, Meänkieli (a minority language similar to Finnish), Swedish and Finnish. That area has a strong storytelling tradition, and the local culture is influenced by a strict Lutheran Christian revival movement. Nina Wähä grew up in Stockholm but spent a lot of time in the Torne River valley. Her experiences in the far north have left their mark in her writing – particularly in her playful sense of language and her proximity to oral storytelling. Each of her books has its own tone of voice and linguistic style. Nina Wähä made her literary debut in 2007 with the novel S as in Sister (‘S som i syster’), about two sisters’ vastly differing memories of their childhood plagued by alcoholism and their parents’ divorce. Wähä took a major stylistic leap forward with her deadly serious, yet highly entertaining, novel Don’t Look Back! (‘Titta inte bakåt!’, 2010), about two people whose stories are skilfully interwoven. Alexander, a young Bulgarian with dreams of becoming a writer, leaves his homeland in 1968 in the hope of reaching the United States. Forty years later, 22-year-old Sabina discovers Alexander’s notebooks. After a nine-year break she returned with Testament (‘Testamente’, 2019), a wild, earthy family epic that was nominated for Sweden’s prestigious August Prize. In her novel about the Toimis, a sprawling family from the Finnish side of the Torne River valley, Wähä’s vibrant, muscular prose really comes into its own. Her latest novel Babetta (‘Babetta’, 2022), is entirely different: a creepy portrait of female friendship that goes into overdrive, when closeness tips over into vampirism. Once again, Wähä displays her exuberant linguistic balancing act and her ability to construct a playful structure with existential gravitas. Babetta is a novel that stays with you long after reading. Yukiko Duke Rights sold to: 16 countries Babetta 330 p. 2022, Norstedts Rights: Norstedts Agency An enigmatic psychological chamber play that is also a tribute to the art of filmmaking with all its heroes and villains. Wähä explores the symbiosis of a female friendship bordering on exploitation, with echoes of Ingmar Bergman’s Persona and Zadie Smith’s Swing Time. Testament 344 p. 2019, Norstedts Rights: Norstedt Agency Siri and Pentti Toimi run a small farm in northern Finland. Pentti rules the family with an iron fist. It’s almost Christmas, and most of the children have gathered for the preparations for the days ahead. Something is about to happen. 23 Swedish Contemporary Fiction Foto: Kajsa Göransson