Finnish-Swedish literary writer Monika Fagerholm receives the prestigious Övralid Prize. The prize was instituted by the Swedish national poet Verner von Heidenstam and is given to authors, essayists or researchers within the humanities. Past recipients include Agneta Pleijel, Tomas Tranströmer, Bruno K. Öijer and Kerstin Ekman.

– It was completely unexpected. I’m glad that the jury highlights the humor in my novels, because even though they are about heavy and serious things, they also have humor. In the dark there is only darkness, but a little light can give the feeling of life, Monika says in an interview with the newspaper Corren, as a comment to the award.

Who Killed Bambi?, Monika Fagerholm’s Nordic Council Literature Prize winning novel, debuts at No. 3 on the official Norwegian e-book bestseller list.

Nordic Council Literature Prize winner Monika Fagerholm has shot to No. 1 on the Danish bestseller lists. Her novel Who Killed Bambi? is the top selling book at both Saxo and Plusbog, the two biggest online booksellers in Denmark.

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.”

Monika Fagerholm has been bestowed with the 2020 Selma Lagerlöf Prize, a prestigious literary award instituted in 1984. The accolade is granted to authors who further the spirit of beloved author and first female Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, Selma Lagerlöf.

Fagerholm is awarded for “an authorship that with virtuosic voicing portrays individuals and groups that strive for meaning in an existence that does not allow for stability, a world wherein misfortune hangs in the air.” The award ceremony will be held in the town of Sunne in August.

Monika Fagerholm’s Who Killed Bambi? and Matias Faldbakken’s We Are Five are shortlisted for the 2020 Nordic Council Literature Prize. Instituted in 1962, the Literature Prize has since been awarded annually to a work of fiction written in one of the Nordic languages that is of “high literary and artistic quality”.

Among previous winners are Sofi Oksanen, Per Petterson and Tomas Tranströmer, to mention a few.

To read the jury’s rationale, click the “Read more” below.

Monika Fagerholm has been bestowed with 2020’s Tollander Award for her latest novel, Who Killed Bambi?. The accolade is handed out by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland and is widely regarded as the most prestigious literary award in the Finland-Swedish literary world.

The Society praises Fagerholm’s authorship as pioneering, stating that she has “renewed the language of fiction and has established new stylistic standards within the Swedish language sphere. Her works serve as a source of inspiration for above all young, female authors, both in Finland and internationally. In her latest novel Fagerholm highlights how violence devastates both its victims and perpetrators. With a distinct combination of intimacy and detachment, she makes visible the mutual dependencies of friendship, desire, competition and power.”

Monika Fagerholm’s highly acclaimed novel Who Killed Bambi? is nominated for 2019’s Finlandia Award.

The jury says the following about the novel: “The story depicts the effects that the brutal crime has on the perpetrators, their friends and families, and the community as a whole. The misdeed does not only destroy the victim – everyone around the perpetrators are affected. The intense mood and the magical, rhythmic prose immerses the reader in the story. The book reminds us how unique a stage of life your youth is, and how it can leave permanent marks.”

The winning title will be announced on November 27.

Monika Fagerholm’s Who Killed Bambi? is No.1 on Dagens Nyheter’s and Svenska Dagbladet’s prestigious critics’ lists this week. Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet are Sweden’s two biggest and most influential daily newspapers.

Saga-Lill and Emmy have known each other since childhood but are at vastly different places in their lives: Emmy is a young mother and married to Mats, an older investment consultant. Saga-Lill is a former theology student who has lost her footing. Then there is Gusten Gripe, their friend who grew up in the polished suburb that the greater part of the story takes place in. But beneath the surface, the suburb is hiding an old wound: a brutal gang rape that took place in the house by the lake, the “Crow’s Ship.” Once the home of the affluent Häggert family, it now only houses the remaining son Nathan.

The violent incident is a thing of the past. The four perpetrators, “the boys,” were all sons of the community. But suddenly Cosmo Brant, the entrepreneur, returns to the area to make a film about the crime. He wants to call it “Who Killed Bambi?”.

Monika Fagerholm is finally back with Who Killed Bambi?, a novel about female friendship and rivalry, boys at the mercy of each other, and families breaking apart. About careless living, and the death of innocence.

Monika Fagerholm has been awarded the most prestigious literary award in Sweden, the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize.
This award is presented annually by the Swedish Academy and the recipient is someone from the Nordic countries who has done significant work in any of the Academy’s areas of operations or interests. The prize sum is 400 000 kronor and the award will be handed over to Fagerholm at a ceremony in Stockholm on April 6.