Jens Lapidus and Anders de la Motte shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award

Jens Lapidus’ Stockholm Delete and Anders de la Motte’s UltiMatum have both been shortlisted for the 2015 Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award for ‘Best Swedish Crime Novel’. The winner of the prestigious award will be announced November 22nd.

Read more

‘Modus’ renewed for second season

Swedish TV4 has announced that the channel has ordered a second season of its hit TV-series Modus. Based on Anne Holt’s novels about Inger Johanne Vik, Modus has been a success among viewers and critics alike, on average reaching 1.039 million viewers per episode. In addition to this, hundreds of thousands of viewers have been following the series on TV4’s online streaming service. With its extraordinary ratings, Modus is the most successful Scandinavian TV series to have been aired on TV4 in 25 years.

Anne Holt says: “I am both proud and happy that Modus will continue for another season. As an author, it has been a pleasure to see ones universe treated as elegantly and professionally in the adaptation from book to TV, and I look forward to a continued collaboration with TV4 and Miso Film.”

Jo Nesbø shortlisted for the Brage Prize

Jo Nesbø’s Midnight Sun is shortlisted for the highly regarded Brage Prize. The Brage Prize is Norway’s most prestigious literary award that is awarded annually by the Norwegian Book Prize foundation in the following categories: Fiction, Children’s literature, Non-fiction and an open class that varies each year. This year it is Crime literature.

An excerpt from the jury’s motivation reads:
“Like Blood on Snow, this novel deviates from his earlier works in style and form. The novel is above all well-written, with an impeccable drive and excellent character, time and environmental depictions.”

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Oslo on December 8th 2015.

‘The Cult’ published in Denmark

Former detective Thomas “Ravn” Ravnsholt is trying to move on with his life after the murder of his girlfriend. He is approached by director Ferdinand Mesmer, a prominent businessman, with what appears to be a simple job: find Mesmer’s son Jakob. Ten years ago, Jakob founded the cult God’s Chosen and disappeared. Now, his father wants to track him down.

The Cult is a chilling tale of a closed-off world with its own set of rules, and the secret past that now threatens its existence. It is the third instalment in Michael Katz Krefeld’s immensely popular series about former detective Thomas “Ravn” Ravnsholt.

Photo: Linnéa Pettersson

New Screenwriter – Malin Lagerlöf

Screenwriter and playwright Malin Lagerlöf (b.1968) began her career writing for the stage, and has crafted more than a dozen plays for theatres around Sweden. Lagerlöf’s career in film and TV took off in 1999 when she wrote the feature film Vägen Ut, which was nominated for a Guldbagge at the 1999 Official Swedish Film Awards in the category ‘Best screenplay’. The success was quickly followed by the popular feature films Hans och Hennes (2001) and Miffo (2003). Known for her diversity as a writer, Lagerlöf easily moves between writing for the stage, feature film, and TV series such as Wallander (2013) and the acclaimed Bibliotekstjuven (2011), nominated for a 2011 Kristallen Award in the category ‘Best Drama Series’.

Read more
Photo: Appendix fotografi

New Screenwriters – Matthew Reeve and Anna Lo Westlin

Matthew Reeve (b. 1979) is an American screenwriter, director and producer based in Stockholm. His debut film, the documentary Hope in Motion (2003), was nominated for an Emmy in the category ‘Best Non-Fiction Special’, and short-listed for a Bafta in the category ‘Best Television Single Documentary’. The film and its sequel, Choosing Hope (2004), were released on DVD in 2007.

Anna Lo Westlin (b.1984) is a screenwriter, director and producer based in Stockholm, Sweden. Westlin began her film career in New York as a Production Associate for Killer Films, working on movies such as I’m Not There (2007), Savage Grace (2007) and Then She Found Me (2007). She soon moved on to working as a manager of finance and later as an acquisitions executive at renowned film distribution company Magnolia Pictures. In 2014, Anna Lo received the Ingmar Bergman residency scholarship and has most recently written and directed the short drama thriller Ladies Who Lunch (2016).

Matthew Reeve and Anna Lo Westlin write separately as well as a duo.

Oscar nominated Morten Tyldum acquires the film rights to Bobbie Peers’ ‘William Wenton’

The film rights to Bobbie Peers’ William Wenton and the Luridium Thief have just been acquired by Oscar nominated film director Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) in a preemptive deal.

Read more

‘Norma’ No. 1 in Finland

Sofi Oksanen’s highly anticipated new novel Norma has gone straight to No. 1 on the official bestseller list in Finland. The stand-alone novel is a dark family drama with fantastical undertones, and introduces yet another facet of Oksanen’s authorship.