More Swedish Fiction 1
Writing one’s world Of course, homecomings are no
t restricted within national borders. Refugees and immigrants who arrived in Sweden as young children have become significant literary voices, as have secondgeneration migrants. Could their roots also grow elsewhere? They, too, return – to Tehran (Negar Naseh, En handfull vind/A Handful of Wind), Herzegovina (Merima Dizdarevic, Långt från ögat, långt från hjärtat/Far from the Eye, Far From the Heart), Kurdistan (Sorin Masifi, Staten. Systrarna. Dikten/State. Sisters. Poetry), Ethiopia (Elina Gobena, En ny jord/A New Earth) and many other places. Sweden’s indigenous Sámi have increased their presence across all creative fields in recent years. The most prominent literary work in this category is Ann-Helén Laestadius’ ‘Sámi trilogy’, whose third volume, Skam (Shame) was published in 2025. Other writers who have been hailed for their portrayals of Sámi culture and identity include Elin Anna Labba (Far inte till havet/The Home of the Drowned) and Alexandra Sundqvist (Matriarkenmarken/The Matriarch Ground). In the summer of 2025, Sweden’s Expressen newspaper published a list of the 25 best Swedish books of the century so far, as voted by 101 literary critics, scholars and writers. Number one on the list was the diaries of the playwright and author Lars Norén. Totalling more than 1,500 pages, Norén’s diaries were published in five volumes. The first came out in 2008 and the final instalment, which ended mid-sentence, was published posthumously in 2021. Norén’s personal diaries addressed topics of art, the state of the world, personal idiosyncrasies and vendettas. Several writers have taken inspiration from Norén and published their own personal journals. Among the most prolific have been the singersongwriter, poet and author Ulf Lundell (Vardagar/Weekdays, published in 12 volumes since 2018) and the artist Marianne Lindberg De Geer (four volumes of diaries to date, most recently Faktiskt tyvärr/Unfortunately in fact, 2023). Semi-autobiographical novels – also known as autofiction – have also been in the spotlight. This category includes novels that feature a narrator almost identical to the author, as in Stefan Lindberg’s trilogy concluding with Viskarna (The Whisperers, 2024). Like some of his male contemporaries, the first-person narrator – an author by the name of Stefan Lindberg – is not really in control of events. Instead, he is drawn into – or perhaps victimised by – his own fictions, in what can undoubtedly be classified in the tradition of the postmodern novel. Viskarna consists of eight stories that all make reference to Lindberg’s own life and previousworks. Diaries and the ‘autofiction’ genre have divided critics, prompting numerous debates on the purpose of literature. 14 A Dramatist’s Journal 2022 Lars Norén Albert Bonniers Förlag Unfortunately in fact 2023 Marianne Lindberg De Geer Kaunitz-Olsson More Swedish Fiction Sven Olof Karlsson Photo: Moa Karlberg Elin Anna Labba Photo: Erik Abel