Today marks the premier of the podcast ‘Speaking of Stories’, where Jens Lapidus and Ryan Gattis, author of All Involved, are the first guest speakers. ‘Speaking of Stories’ is a podcast wherein two writers meet to talk about not only about their writing, but current events, society, and culture in general. Starting with what the authors have in common, the discussion evolves from there, touching on numerous subjects and stories. Each episode will feature two writers, one from Sweden, the other in the country for a brief visit only – a visit that nonetheless results in a lasting memory in the form of a podcast.

Listen to the first episode here.

Bobbie Peers’ William Wenton and the Luridium Thief has now been sold to 31 territories! The novel, Bobbie Peers’ literary debut, has been hailed as a children’s book of international proportions by Norwegian press. William Wenton and the Luridium Thief is also the winner of the 2015 Ark’s Children’s Book Award.

Norma by Sofi Oksanen is No. 3 on the official Finnish bestseller list this month. Jo Nesbø’s Midnight Sun and Blood on Snow is No. 2 and No. 4 respectively and Jens Lapidus’ Stockholm Delete is No. 3 on the Finnish bestseller list for translated fiction. Jo Nesbø’s The Son is No. 2 on the paperback list.

Kristina Ohlsson’s Mio’s Blues, Liza Marklund’s The Final Word, Jo Nesbø’s Midnight Sun, Hjorth & Rosenfeldt’s Those Who Failed, Jens Lapidus’ Stockholm Delete and Leif GW Persson’s The Bomb Maker and his Woman have been shortlisted for the Swedish book award The Grand Audiobook Prize in the Crime & Thriller category. The Blue Star by Jan Guillou is shortlisted in the Literary Fiction category and Kristina Ohlsson’s The Glass Children and The Silver Boy are shortlisted in the Children’s & Young Adult category. The prize is awarded to the book and its narrator both, and the winners will be crowned in March 2016 at the Grand Audiobook Gala in Stockholm.

It has just been announced that Patti Smith is nominated for a Grammy in the ‘Best Spoken Word Album’ category for her performance as the narrator for the audiobook version of Jo Nesbø’s Blood on Snow. The other nominees are Jimmy Carter, Janis Ian and Jean Smart, Amy Poehler and Dick Cavett. The winner will be announced at the Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles on February 15th 2016. Listen to a clip from the audiobook here.

Today it was announced that Bobbie Peers has been chosen as the winner of the 2015 Ark’s Children’s Book Award. The award is each year given to an author selected by Norway’s young readers. This year 10,000 children in the grades 5-7 participated in the vote. Here is what some of Bobbie Peers’ young fans had to say about William Wenton and the Luridium Thief:

“This is one of the best books we’ve ever read. It’s super exciting! It’s suspenseful from page one, and the excitement lasts all the way till the end of the book. It’s both funny and sad at times. We couldn’t put it down, and when we had finished reading it we missed it. The author writes incredibly well. This book deserves to win.”
-Class 6B, Godlia school

“The book was thrilling, and often there’d be surprises you didn’t foresee. There was lots of fun technology in the book. We’re hoping there will be a second novel; it seemed like there might be, judging by the ending.”
-Class 6B, Manglerud school

“This was a very exciting and action-packed book about code breaking. /…/ It was difficult to put the book down. The author also succeeded in planting a lot of nice pictures in our heads, so it was actually more fun to read a book than watch TV/play on the computer. In addition, the book was also funny. We hope there will be a sequel, because this was a really good book.”
-Class 5A, Jong school

Jo Nesbø’s Midnight Sun and Jørn Lier Horst’s Ordeal have been shortlisted for the Norwegian bookseller Ark’s Book of the Year Award. The readers of Norway have together decided the list of nominees, who vary in genre as well as original language. The winner will be announced on December 10th.