New Swedish Books, autumn 2020 1
5 Autumn 2020 The Jury New in New Swedish Books:
a selection of titles published in 2020 that Swedish literary agents currently are working with, trying to reach new readers in new languages. They have nominated books and the Arts Council’s grants committee, who also read and assess books that foreign publishers seek translation grants for, have then acted as the jury. Together they have found many great titles, in all genres. The presentations of the books were delivered by the agencies. The jury’s joint assessment of each book is added as a quotation on each page. Cecilia Hansson is an author. Her debut in 2002 was the poetic story Revbensdagar, morgnar. Her latest book is the novel Au Pair from 2019. She is also active as a journalist (with a focus on Central Europe), literary critic, and as a translator of poetry from German. Håkan Lindquist is a writer of fiction for both young people and adults. In his latest book Ariel tjugofyra/ sju, the 10-year-old titular hero tells the story of a childhood marked by vulnerability and insecurity. He is also a translator, a photographer and librettist – as well as a cat-owner. Annina Rabe is a literary critic for, amongst others, Expressen and the Swedish public radio (SR). She regularly lectures on Swedish literature. She has co-written several books, including Tusen svenska klassiker. Böcker, filmer, skivor, tvprogram från 1956 till idag, where she was responsible for the literature section, and most recently Kris, kalas och kolhydrater with Anna Hellsten. Martin Hellström is Senior Lecturer in children’s literature at the Linnæus University. He is currently reading the work of Swedish children’s author Maria Gripe together with a group of children – a project which, in 2021, is due to culminate in a book. He also directs several children’s theatre groups and reviews fiction in the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Kristina Hoas has an MA in Literary Studies and specializes in children’s publishing. She has previously worked as a librarian, with a focus on literature for children and young adults Photo: Snezana Vucetic Bohm Photo: Frank Svarten Photo: Gabriel Liljevall Photo: Petr Shorely Photo: Martin Vallin