Backman and Nesbø shortlisted for the 2020 Ozon Book Award
Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove and Jo Nesbø’s Knife (the twelfth installment in the Harry Hole series) are shortlisted for the Russian 2020 Ozon Book Award in the “Best Fiction” category. Ozon is the Russian equivalent of Amazon and one of Russia’s largest book retailers. The winners will be announced on November 10.
Monika Fagerholm awarded with 2020 Nordic Council Literature Prize
Monika Fagerholm has been bestowed with the 2020 Nordic Council Literature Prize for her novel Who Killed Bambi? The prestigious accolade has been awarded since 1962 to a work of fiction written in one of the Nordic languages. The jury motivation was as follows:
“Monika Fagerholm’s Who Killed Bambi? is stylized morality written with a raging energy. A gang-rape is committed by affluent youths in the wealthy Villastaden just outside of Helsinki. Fagerholm’s focus lies not with the victim but the perpetrators and on what takes place before and after the rape. Particularly the parental generation’s strive to palliate afterwards gives her the opportunity to excel in impeccable social satire. The language heels forward, in turns gleaming with power or melancholically incantatory. In the novel’s tightly woven weave of dialogues, refrains and popular cultural references there’s a hard truth that affects the characters no matter how much they resist it. Gusten Grippe, the only perpetrator to acknowledge the guilt, becomes a counter force to the dark draw from the room where the assault took place. Against our superficial, status-craving times is pitched the longing for the unspoilt, a vital longing portrayed in the shape of recollections of love and friendship, moments one can return to and gather energy from.”
‘Anxious People’ nominated for a 2020 Goodreads Choice Award
Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People is a nominee in the running for the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for “Best Fiction.”
The Goodreads Choice Awards are the only major US book awards decided by readers. In the coming months, readers will get to participate in three rounds of voting in each of the twenty categories. The opening round will take place between October 27 and November 8.
Fans are encouraged to spread the word on social platforms using the tags #GoodreadsChoice and @goodreads, and by sharing the link in “Read more” below.
Lars Kepler and Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger on the Slovakian bestseller lists
Lars Kepler’s The Mirror Man claims two spots on the Slovakian book retailer Martinus’s bestseller lists, coming in at No. 3 in hardcover and e-book. Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s Smoke Screen features on the e-book list as well, where it takes the No. 4 spot.
‘22 July’ wins Prix Europa
The winners of the prestigious Prix Europa have been announced, and 22 July, created by Sara Johnsen and Pål Sletaune, was awarded ‘Best European TV Fiction Series of the Year.’ Prix Europa is Europe’s largest festival for television, radio, and online media.
Sara Johnsen and Pål Sletaune has to date been awarded Seriekritikerprisen, the Fritt Ord Tribute, the Nordic TV Drama Screenplay Award and three Golden Screen Awards for their lauded drama series.
‘The Cabin’ No. 1 in Estonia
Jørn Lier Horst’s The Cabin – the second installment in the Cold Case Quartet – has sailed to No. 1 on Rahva Raamat’s bestseller list for e-books. Rahva Raamat is the largest retail and wholesale bookseller in Estonia.
Annette Bjergfeldt shortlisted for Bogforum’s Debut Award 2020 in Denmark
Annette Bjergfeldt is one of five authors shortlisted for the prestigious Danish Bogforum’s Debut Award 2020 for her epic family saga When Life Gives You Hippos. The coveted award has since 1993 been annually bestowed upon the best debut author in fiction in connection to the largest Danish bookfair, BogForum. This year’s fair is cancelled due to Covid, meaning that the jury-selected winner will instead be announced through Danish Radio 2 on the 8th of November.
Stina Jackson and Kristina Ohlsson shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award
Stina Jackson and Kristina Ohlsson have both been shortlisted for the prestigious 2020 Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award for ‘Best Swedish Crime Novel’. Jackson is nominated for The Last Snow, while Ohlsson is shortlisted for her upcoming title Stormvakt, the first installment in a new series.
The winning author will be announced on November 22.
‘Capable People’ published in Sweden
Johan and Anna, a pair of lovers in their mid-thirties, check into a small-town hotel in western Sweden. Johan has just left his wife for Anna and is now looking forward to a night of celebrating. But Anna has something different in mind: she has decided to call it quits. Her family is more important than her longing for happiness.
The weekend doesn’t turn out as either of them expected. A deadly mistake forces the pair to make a fateful decision then and there, and soon they are traveling down a nightmarish road that will change their lives – forever.
In Capable People, Klas Ekman weaves a lean, tight and incredibly gripping psychological thriller about ordinary people finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances, and how a fatal decision can lead to the downfall of one’s morals.
The author distinguishes himself by skillfully pulling the story through the darkest corners of the human psyche, displaying an expert touch for dialogue and multi-layered characters that together form a Hitchcockian page-turner that will stay with you long after reading.
The weekly Swedish bestseller lists
Hans Rosenfeldt’s When Crying Wolf is No. 2 in hardcover on the latest Swedish bestseller list, claiming the No. 4 spot on the audio list as well. Simona Ahrnstedt debuts on the lists with her just published Hearts on the Line, which is No. 2 in e-book and No. 4 in hardcover. Finally, Niklas Natt och Dag’s 1794 comes in at No. 5 in paperback.