Why you should read the Swedish fiction that's been nominated for the International Booker Prize

It’s a small country that gifted the world Scandi-noir mysteries, infectious Euro-pop beats, and the ubiquitous presence of that iconic flatpack furniture store. But look beyond these celebrated exports and Sweden has much more to offer. In recent years, the country has quietly emerged as a powerhouse of literary talent, with many of its authors making significant waves on the international stage.

Just this year, Ia Genberg’s inclusion on the International Booker Prize shortlist for her Swedish bestseller The Details, translated by Kira Josefsson, marked the second year running a Swede had made the list, following Amanda Svensson’s appearance on the 2023 longlist with her novel A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding, translated by Nichola Smalley. In a recent interview with the Booker Prizes, Josefsson acknowledged the wealth of quality fiction emerging from Sweden at the moment, and directed English-language readers towards translated works by Andrzej Tichý, Ann-Helén Laestadius and Johannes Anyuru.

As anticipation mounts for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, the longest-running international music competition in the world – which this year is held in the cobblestoned city of Malmö – it’s the ideal moment to celebrate the Swedish titles that have been nominated for the International Booker Prize, all of which get a maximum douze points from us.

Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý, translated by Nichola Smalley

Widely recognised as one of the most important novelists of his generation, Andrzej Tichý was born in Prague in 1978 but has lived in Sweden since 1981. Described as a delirious trip through Europe’s underbelly, Wretchedness tells the story of a young cellist, Cody, who meets a drug user while on his way to practice. The encounter forces him to reflect on his youth in the Nineties, when he grew up in poverty while travelling across Europe. As a former addict, Cody flips between the past and present, recalling his life through the lens of drugs, crime and music. Writing in steam-of-consciousness prose, Tichý eschews dialogue markers and paragraph breaks to create an exhilarating novel that captures the highs, lows, and glimmers of hope in an otherwise wretched life. 

Tichý’s first novel to be translated into English, Wretchedness was shortlisted for the August Prize in 2016 in its original language of Swedish, and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2021, after being translated into English by Nichola Smalley. 

The Faculty of Dreams by Sara Stridsberg, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner

The Faculty of Dreams is based on the real-life story of Valerie Solanas, a struggling writer and radical feminist who came to notoriety after her attempted murder of famed artist Andy Warhol. Solanas was known for writing and self-publishing the radical feminist work, SCUM Manifesto, which detailed the need to overthrow society and eliminate the male sex. Here, author Sara Stridsberg revisits pivotal places and moments from Solanas’ life, reimagining aspects that affected her immensely, including her deeply troubled childhood, life at university, her time residing at mental institutions and her ill-fated assassination attempt of the king of Pop Art. Sara Stridsberg was born in Solna, Sweden and now lives in Stockholm. 

The Faculty of Dreams, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner, was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2019 and won the Nordic Council Literature Prize. It was also voted as the best Swedish novel from the 2000s in a poll held by newspaper Dagens Nyheter.