News

New Client: Geir Angell Øygarden

It is with great pleasure that we have taken on the representation of Geir Angell Øygarden’s magnum opus Bagdad Indigo – the first publication from literary superstar Karl Ove Knausgård’s new publishing house, Pelikanen. A remarkable, daring and highly original work, Bagdad Indigo tells the story of the eight months Øygarden spent as a human shield in Bagdad during the American invasion. Øygarden who is a sociologist relates with acuity and great perception the effects of war, fear and disillusionment on himself and the band of brothers that is the community of human shields, as well as their Iraqi neighbours and the American soldiers in the streets. Carsten Jensen writes of the book: “Geir Angell Øygarden gives the word “eye witness” a whole new meaning. Reading Bagdad Indigo is like watching Sisyphos finally wrestling his rock into place.” For more information do see www.pelikanen.no or the author’s page on our website.

Jepsen sold to ten countries

With the recent sale of Erling Jepsen's Kunsten at græde i kor (The Art of Crying in Chorus) to Italian publisher Voland, Jepsens books now appear in ten languages.

More Sales for Fatland

Brage Prize-nominee Erika Fatland is going from strength to strength. Recently her two books - last year's The Village of Angels and her upcoming book about the Utøya-tragedy - have sold to German publisher btb Random House.

Erika Fatland nominated for Brage-award

Erika Fatland has been nominated for the prestigious Norwegian Brage-award for her book about the Beslan-massacre Englebyen (The Village of Angels). In its nomination the jury writes: "An unusually thorough, original and courageous work is the basis of this book which was made all the more topical by the attacks of 22nd July." The winner of the award will be announced on 24th November.

More Sales for Hammann

Kirsten Hammann's wonderful novel Se på mig (Look at Me) has now been sold to Germany (btb Random House) as well as to Sweden (Kabusa) and Norway (Gyldendal Norsk)

Deutscher Buchpreis-winner is no. 1 on Spiegel-bestsellerlist

At the Frankfurt Book Fair 2011 debutant Eugen Ruge was awarded the prestigious Deutscher Buchpreis for his book In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts. So far the book has sold 180 000 copies in Germany alone, and rights have been sold to 8 countries: Finland (Atena), France (Èditions First), Italy (Mondadori), Holland (De Geus), Spain (Anagram), USA (Graywolf Press), Denmark (Batzer & Co.), and most recently to Norway (Aschehoug) who acquired the rights in an exciting auction at the Frankfurt Fair itself.
The book is currently no. 1 on the German Spiegel-bestsellerlist and has been praised in all the media.

Wolfgang Herrndorfer: This year's Jugendliteraturpreis-winner

Wolfgang Herrndorfer's Tschick (Rowohlt Verlag) has now been sold for publication in 11 countries and recently won Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2011.

"Full of laughs and incredibly moving, Tschick will have you reaching for the tissues." Süddeutsche Zeitung

Erika Fatland Sales

Erika Fatland's two books, the critically acclaimed debut The Village of Angels and her upcoming book about the massacre at Utøya, have now sold to Denmark (L&R), Sweden (Norstedts) and Holland (De Geus)

New Egholm-book sold to Germany

Elsebeth Egholm's new book Tre Hundes Nat (Three Dog Night) has sold to Aufbau Verlag who have published several of Egholm's thrilling books.

Jón Kalman Stefánson to be awarded the P O Enquist Award

It is with the greatest pleasure we can now disclose that this year’s P O Enquist Award is to be awarded to Icelandic writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson.
In their motivation for the choice of Kalman Stefánson as this year’s recipient of the award, the jury writes: “Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s novel is about a boy who is caught between heaven and hell, life and death, love and grief, the sea and the mountains. It is both magnificent and magical. A tale which turns life into great literature, and imbues literature with new life.”

According to tradition the award will be presented at the Bok och Biblioteksmässe in Göteborg on 22nd September 2011.

The P O Enquist Award was founded on Enquist’s 70th birthday and is presented every year to a writer whose work is coming to international recognition by Norstedts, the writer’s international publishers and the Göteborg Book Fair.
Former recipients of the prestigious award include Juli Zeh, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Trude Marstein, Daniel Kehlmann, Helle Hele and Jonas T. Bengtsson.

Kalman Stefánsson longlisted for prestigious French award

Critically acclaimed Icelandic writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson has been longlisted for the prestigious French Award, Prix Femina Etranger. Also longlisted this year are Joseph O'Connor, Jonathan Franzen and David Grossman.

More critical acclaim for Jón Kalman Stefánsson

FAZ writes on the German publication of Kalman Stefánsson's The Sorrow of Angels: "...thus the small island of Iceland becomes – in Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s moving, linguistically and stylistically masterful novel The Sorrow of Angels – the epitome of the here below, and the struggle of these two men becomes an exemplary attempt to master fate and retain Man’s fundamental dignity and worth."

Kirsten Hammann off to a flying start

Kirsten Hammann's new book Se på mig (Look at Me) went straight to No 1 on the Danish bestsellerlist on its publication. The book, which has had splendid reviews, is sold to Gyldendal Norsk in Norway and Kabusa in Sweden.

Two book-deal for Fatland

Erika Fatland's topical and fascinating exploration of the aftermath of the massacre in Beslan, Englebyen (The Village of Angels) has sold to Sweden (Norstedts) after an auction. The sale is for a two book deal which includes Swedish rights for Fatland's next book about the tragedy of 22nd July

New Mankell biography off to a great start

Critically acclaimed Danish biographer Kirsten Jacobsen's new book, Mankell (om) Mankell (Mankell about Mankell) is the first biography of the great Swedish writer to appear in Danish. The book was published on 14th September and rights for the book are already sold to Sweden, Norway, Finland, Holland and Germany.

Åke Edwardson Sales

Åke Edwardson's splendid new crime novel, Meet Me in Estepona, has been sold to Lattès (France) and to C&K (Denmark).

New Leif Davidsen Sale

World English rights to Leif Davidsen's Fjenden i Spejlet (The Enemy in the Mirror) have been sold to Arcadia.

Henning Mankell gives speech for Patti Smith at this year's Polar Music Prize

Yesterday, Patti Smith received the 2011 Polar Music Prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf at the
Concert Hall, Stockholm. The award speech was by Henning Mankell.

And a bit from the press:

"Smith's award was presented by one of her favorite authors, Sweden's Henning Mankell. Speaking
without notes, he credited Smith for inspiring women all over the world to write poetry and create
music. He then read the citation, which lauded Smith for "devoting her life to art in all its forms" and
for demonstrating "how much rock 'n' roll there is in poetry and how much poetry there is in rock 'n'
roll." Calling Smith "a Rimbaud with Marshall amps," the citation said that she "has transformed the
way an entire generation looks, thinks and dreams."
In her acceptance, a visibly moved Smith had to stop for a moment to collect herself as she
thanked her daughter Jesse Paris and son Jackson, as well as the musicians she has worked with
for years, including "Lenny Kaye, who has played guitar by my side for over 40 years." Smith also
acknowledged the late Stig Anderson and "my late husband, Fred 'Sonic' Smith," guitarist for the
rock band MC5."

Do take a look at http://news.henningmankell.com/2011/08/patti-smith-mankell-is-one-of-my-favourite-authors-2/

Fabulous Kirkus Review for Lindquist

Kirkus is unequivocal in its praise of John Ajvide Lindqvist's wonderful novel Människohamn (Harbor):
Scandinavian writers dominate the police-procedural genre. Are they now bent on taking over horror? Swedish creepmeister Lindqvist is hot on the case.

The author of one of the scariest vampire novels to have come out in years, Let Me In (2007) (film version Let the Right One In), Lindqvist drifts squarely into Stephen King territory with his latest—which, it seems, is a bit of a roman à clef, reflecting the author’s childhood in a Stockholm housing development on the edge of the city. So it is with Domarö, an island not far from the Swedish capital where hoary old fishermen mend their nets and rough-edged yokels sharpen their knives, even as smart urbanites zip about in their fine cars and well-made clothes. One of those city slickers, a pensive fellow named Anders, suffers a terrible blow when his daughter, Maja, sees something mysterious, goes to have a look and disappears. “She was good at finding places to hide,” Anders reasons at first. “Although she could be over-excited and eager in other situations, when she was playing hide and seek she could keep quiet and still for any length of time.” Well, this is a very serious game of hide and seek indeed, for others on this island have gone missing, too—boatloads of them, with cases of schnapps as a gift to the critters that dwell in the spectral Baltic waters. Will Anders ever find his daughter? Perhaps, perhaps not—and therein hangs the tale. Lindqvist ventures on heavy-handedness by introducing a character who, a touch too conveniently, happens to be a retired magician with a trick up his sleeve (or, more to the point, in his matchbox) and lots of wisdom to dispense. In the main, though, he capably keeps his story far from the usual splatterfest slasher stuff and instead holds it to the confines of psychological thriller, which is plenty spooky enough, atmospheric and foreboding: “There is a film of moisture over everything and water drips from the leaves of the trees, as if this island has risen from the sea just to meet him.”

Perhaps not a book to read by the seashore, if you’re literal-minded. A spooky pleasure, expertly told.

Great start for new Henning Mankell novel

Released just days ago, Henning Mankell's new novel Minnet av en smutsig ängel (Memoirs of a Dirty Angel) has shot in at number three on the Swedish bestseller list. An instant success, the book is sold to nine countries before its Swedish publication.