The Swedish Storytel Awards 2024

The shortlists for the Swedish Storytel Awards of 2024 are now available and open for the public’s vote.

Among those competing for the title of best Suspense title are Hjorth & Rosenfeldt with The Guilt You Carry, and Jo Nesbø with Killing Moon. In the Feelgood category Simona Ahrnstedt vies for the top spot with An Unthinkable Fate. Lastly, the Children’s category sees Martin Widmark and The Dinosaur Mystery face up against among else David Sundin‘s The Audiobook That Did Not Want To End – Part 4, from the same universe as The Book That Did Not Want To Be Read.

The Icelandic Storytel Awards 2024 Shortlist Announced

The nominees for this year’s Icelandic Storytel Awards have been announced. 

The Storytel Awards are an annual event that highlights the best audio books of the year. The awards are granted within five categories: Suspense, Fiction, Non-fiction, YA & Children’s books, and Feelgood.

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s Forget Me Not is nominated in the Suspense category, whilst Jørn Lier Horst’s The Cabin is featured in the Fiction books award. 

Martin Widmark’s The Racecourse Mystery is in the running for the Children’s books award, and Just a Bit More by Simona Ahrnstedt is nominated within the Feelgood category.

Readers will be able to vote for their favorite titles, after which a jury will pick a winner among the five candidates with the most votes in each category.

Jo Nesbø’s ‘Killing Moon’ No. 1 in Sweden

Jo Nesbø’s thirteenth installment in the Harry Hole series, Killing Moon, shoots to No. 1 on the official bestseller list for paperbacks in Sweden.

Jo Nesbø’s ‘Killing Moon’ No. 1 in the UK

Jo Nesbø’s thirteenth installment in the Harry Hole series, Killing Moon, was just published in paperback in the UK and entered the official bestseller list for paperback fiction at No. 1 this week.

Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger No. 1 most sold in Norway 2023

Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger claim the top spot on Norway’s 2023 bestseller list with Victim, their fifth Blix & Ramm novel. Horst then makes a second showing in the top ten with The Traitor, which features at No. 4. Also appearing twice in the top ten is Jo Nesbø, with Killing Moon at No. 3, and The Night House at No. 8. A non-Norwegian author in the top is Anders de la Motte, whose The Mountain King comes in at No. 6. The highest-placing female writer is Anne Holt, with Twelve Untamed Horses at No. 9.

‘Fire From the Sky’ named a Printz Honor Book

Moa Backe Åstot’s Fire From the Sky has been named a Printz Honor Book 2024. The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature is an annual award, honoring the best book written for teens, based on its literary merit. In addition, the committee presents four honor books each year. The award is given by the Young Adult Library Association, a division of the American Library Association.

The committee’s motivation reads as follows:
“A member of the Sámi people in Sweden, Ánte wants to preserve his birthright of traditional reindeer herding. However, he worries his emerging romantic feelings for his best friend, Erik, put him at irreconcilable odds with his community and culture. Stark, atmospheric prose invokes an introspective look into individuality within community.”

Liza Marklund and Jo Nesbø shortlisted for the 2024 Mofibo Awards

The Danish audio and e-book service Mofibo has announced this year’s nominees in the Mofibo Awards. Competing for the title of Best Translated Fiction is Liza Marklund’s Storm Mountain and Jo Nesbø’s Killing Moon.

To cast your vote, click “Read more” below. The winner will be announced on March 14th.

Read more
Nikolaj Møller/Nordisk Film Photo: Nikolaj Møller/Nordisk Film

Möller’s ‘Sons’ selected for International Competition at the Berlinale

Award-winning director Gustav Möller’s prison drama Sons will be celebrating the world premiere in the International Competition strand of the Berlinale and is one out of two selected Danish films to be screened at the prestigious festival.

Möller’s prison drama follows Eva, an idealistic prison officer (played by Sidse Babett Knudsen), who is faced with the dilemma of her life when a young man from her past is transferred to the prison where she works. Here begins an unsettling psychological thriller, where Eva’s sense of justice puts both her morality and future at stake.

Sons is written by Gustav Möller and Emil Nygaard Albertsen and produced by Lina Flint for Nordisk Film with funding from the Danish Film Institute.

‘The JerryMaya Detective Agency – The Mascot Who Disappeared’ to start filming

SF Studios has announced that a new feature film about The JerryMaya Detective Agency will premiere in movie theaters this fall. The movie is based on Martin Widmark and Helena Willis’ exceptionally popular book series of the same name, now featuring a new, adventurous mystery.

Tina Mackic is once again set to direct, and Maria Nohra can be found among the cast members, playing a significant role.

Filming for The JerryMaya Detective Agency – The Mascot Who Disappeared will begin in March, and the premiere date has been set to October 2024.

Gabriel Liljevall Photo: Gabriel Liljevall

New Author: Lisa Ridzén

Lisa Ridzén (b.1988) is a doctoral student in sociology, researching masculinity norms in the rural communities of the Swedish far north, where she herself was raised and now lives in a small village outside of Östersund. The idea for her heartrending debut When the Cranes Fly South came from the discovery of notes her Grandfather’s care team had left the family as he neared the end of his life. She began penning the novel whilst attending Långholmen Writer’s Academy.