PETRONA AWARD 2023 WINNER

The winner of the 2023 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is FEMICIDE by Pascal Engman, translated from the Swedish by Michael Gallagher and published by Legend Press.

Pascal Engman will receive a trophy, and both the author and translator will receive a cash prize.

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The judges’ statement on FEMICIDE:

This year’s Petrona Award winner is a page-turning, absorbing and uncomfortable Swedish thriller. FEMICIDE tells of a young woman, Emilie, who is found murdered in her Stockholm apartment in the same week that her violent ex-boyfriend is released from prison. Detective Vanessa Frank is assigned the case. Meanwhile, we hear the story of young journalist Jasmina, the survivor of a recent, severe sexual assault. Author Pascal Engman dives into the world of incels through Tom, a very believable character who is part of a weaponised gender war brought about by, amongst other things, misguided hatred, feelings of being ignored by society, and sexual frustration. FEMICIDE comes to a pinnacle as the attacks against women escalate on a huge scale. 

Continuing in the tradition of fellow Swedish authors Sjöwall and Wahlöö, and Henning Mankell, Pascal Engman uses his writing to comment on societal values making FEMICIDE an interesting, fictional take on the multifaceted topic of violence against women. The book stood out to all the Petrona judges for several reasons. The way FEMICIDE opens the reader’s eyes to the steadily increasing threat of the incel movement and what makes these men tick was felt by all the judges. FEMICIDE is a challenging read that broadens thinking. The writing is well informed, the book has a good sense of urban space, and it picks up pace in a satisfying manner. There is a cast of interesting, and sometimes unconventional, characters for the reader to get to know. All the judges felt this book offered something creatively original that captured the zeitgeist of the early twenty-first century and it is a deserved winner. 

Comments from the winning author, translator, and publisher:

Pascal Engman (author):

It feels incredibly significant to win this award. Several of my major idols and heroes in this genre have been recipients of it. I consider it an honour, a great honour. Writing FEMICIDE was a unique experience. The research on the incel movement was very challenging. I was pulled towards their darkness in many ways. Therefore, I also want to thank Linnea, my fiancée, for putting up with me then, as she does now.

Michael Gallagher (translator):

FEMICIDE was a fantastic book to work on. Pascal Engman certainly belongs to the Nordic Noir tradition, but his writing and his characters deftly reflect the tectonic shifts underway in Sweden and the wider world. Always unsettling and compelling, he is not bound by conventions or old cliches. I am delighted that the jury has recognised his talent and that my translation seems to have done it justice!

Cari Rosen (Legend Press Commissioning Editor):

We are so thrilled that FEMICIDE has been chosen as the winner of this year's Petrona Award. The novel delves into the world of incels after a series of brutal attacks against women, and perfectly encapsulates the pace, drama and drive of Pascal's writing. The Vanessa Frank series has sold more than a million copies worldwide and everyone at Legend is delighted to be able to bring this, the first of three books, to an English-speaking audience thanks to Michael Gallagher's expert translation.

2021 PETRONA AWARD for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year

Winner of 2021 Petrona Award announced – a first win for Historical Crime

The winner of the 2021 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year:

TO COOK A BEAR by Mikael Niemi, translated from the Swedish by Deborah Bragan-Turner and published by MacLehose Press.

As well as a trophy, Mikael Niemi receives a pass to and a guaranteed panel at CrimeFest 2022. Mikael Niemi and Deborah Bragan-Turner will also receive a cash prize.


The judges’ statement on TO COOK A BEAR:

The judges adored TO COOK A BEAR, a historical crime novel set in northernmost Sweden in 1852, and were unanimous in our decision to select it as the Petrona Award winner for 2021. We were particularly impressed with the novel’s use of historical detail, its fascinating reimagining of a figure from history, the sense of location and atmosphere, the rumination on religion versus the natural world, and the depiction of early forensics. TO COOK A BEAR’s superb characterisation of the main protagonists Læstadius and Jussi, which is tinged with sadness yet hope, also allows the author to explore the issues of literacy and class with sensitivity and compassion. The beautiful translation by Deborah Bragan-Turner lets the novel shine for English-language readers around the world.

TO COOK A BEAR is the first historical crime novel to win the Petrona Award.


Comments from the winning author, translator and publisher:


Mikael Niemi (author):

I am very proud and happy to have received the Petrona Award and would like to thank my editor, Katharina Bielenberg, my translator Deborah Bragan-Turner, and my agency, Hedlund Literary Agency, who have made it possible for this novel to reach British readers. This happy news has brightened the growing winter darkness here in the very north of Scandinavia. I am sending my warmest thanks to all my British readers. 


Deborah Bragan-Turner (translator):

I am absolutely thrilled and very honoured to receive the Petrona Award. It’s a great privilege to be in the company of such accomplished authors and translators on the shortlist. Many congratulations to you all. Thank you to MacLehose Press for your support and editorial advice, and to the panel of judges for your championing of and enthusiasm for Scandinavian fiction in translation. And of course thank you most of all, Mikael Niemi, for bringing the story of Jussi and the pastor to us in TO COOK A BEAR, an inspired novel and a joy to translate.

The 2021 Petrona Award Shortlist:

A NECESSARY DEATH by Anne Holt, tr. Anne Bruce (Corvus; Norway)

DEATH DESERVED by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger, tr. Anne Bruce (Orenda Books; Norway)

THE SECRET LIFE OF MR. ROOS by Håkan Nesser, tr. Sarah Death (Mantle; Sweden)

TO COOK A BEAR by Mikael Niemi, tr. Deborah Bragan-Turner (MacLehose Press; Sweden)

THE SEVEN DOORS by Agnes Ravatn, tr. Rosie Hedger (Orenda Books; Norway

GALLOWS ROCK by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, tr. Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton; Iceland)

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This is the ninth year of the Petrona Award. Previous winners of the Petrona Award are Liza Marklund for LAST WILL, translated by Neil Smith, LINDA, AS IN THE LINDA MURDER by Leif G.W. Persson, also translated by Neil Smith, THE SILENCE OF THE SEA by Yrsa Sigurđardóttir, translated by Victoria Cribb, THE CAVEMAN by Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce, WHERE ROSES NEVER DIE by Gunnar Staalesen, translated by Don Bartlett, QUICKSAND by Malin Persson Giolito, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, THE KATHARINA CODE by Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce and LITTLE SIBERIA by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston.

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING WRITERS: Guest post by Sara Lövestam

SARA LOVESTAM:
Advice for aspiring writers 

Decide ahead of time the kind of author you want to be. Once you’ve been published, your books will define you as an author. Don’t write a romantic comedy if you ever want to be considered a heavy-duty literary author, and don’t write a novel about relationships if you are aiming for an audience of mystery readers.

No, actually, forget all that. Write what you feel in your soul that you want to write. It’s not your fault that the market wants to place writers in boxes. You are not personally responsible for how literature is regarded.

Write the very best work you are capable of producing. Don't settle for less than perfection.

No, actually, write whatever makes you develop as a writer. You can explore a style, theme or genre without the requirement that you be ready to do so. You will never be ready. Never be ready.

Be ready if you feel ready and want to be ready. Indulge in your readiness if you want to.

Write a first draft quickly, to get the story out, and then spend a hundred times longer editing it. It is in the editing that the magic happens. All first drafts are bad.

But they don't have to be. You could be someone who already has your idea ready, and in your writing process, put all of your energy into getting the draft right from the very beginning. You could be someone who writes five sentences in one day and then spends zero hours editing them afterwards.

You could be someone who writes chapters without knowing what order you’ll put them in, or someone who can’t possibly write a chapter unless the previous one has already been completed.

You can bring forth your story and let it come into being with your words, or come up with your story in your head and then carefully put it into words. You can do something in between.

Care about your story, your wording, your rhythm, your vision and your language, but in the order and pace that suits you. Nothing is finer. Nothing is fine. It's just your way.

Always write an outline. Never write an outline. Write an outline if it helps you. Treat your outline as a living document. Embellish your outline until it becomes a novel. Write your outline as a series of bullet points. Follow your outline. Abandon your outline. Change your outline. Your outline can also be part of your creative process. Write your outline from the heart. Do not write a outline unless you find it helpful.

Write what you know. Do not cross the stream in search of water. Your own story, background and context are interesting enough, and only you have the lived experience to describe them.

Write what you don’t know. Your gaze can be sharper when it comes from the outside. You can see details in the lives of others that they themselves miss; you can notice things in a foreign setting that are invisible to the native.

Write what you want to know. Your own curiosity has to take the lead, and often, we are interested in things we don’t already know about, things that are new and feel exciting. Write about what tickles your fancy, write about something you’d like to know more about, make yourself an expert through your writing. But if you want to be published and appreciated by those who already know what you want to know, do your research and go directly to the source.

Think of your reader, so she will feel secure with the premise of your book. She should feel wise and enlightened, seduced and unstoppable. Keep in mind that you and she do not know the same things, and don’t leave any gaps which will perplex her. Write so she won’t be able to stop reading. Remember that she’s not inside your head; polish your text to pave her way.

No, actually, don't write in order to be read. Write for yourself. Trust your own taste and write what you want to read. Otherwise, who else will do it? Appreciate your own voice for what it is, be true to your own expression. The most important thing about what you write is that it’s yours. The world does not need more clones.

Create a niche or familiarize yourself with an existing niche —that’s how you will reach readers. Readers will want to know what to expect from your next book. Readers only want to invest in a book if they believe it is worth it, and the greater uncertainty around what you have created, the fewer books they will buy.

No, actually, ignore the market. It is your writing, your life and your creativity. You are not responsible for what readers think they will be getting, and this industry is too unforgiving for you to enter it and then not write precisely what you want.

Write what you want to write.

Write what you do not want to write. Something that hurts you can light your prose on fire. Your writing can become larger than life when you enrich it by baring your soul.

Write. The best books are the ones that are finished. Becoming an author requires one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. You can trigger creativity by sitting in your chair and staring at the page until something happens. Don’t distract yourself with anything else. Just write.

Don’t write. Do something else for a while. Your book will be written in your subconscious as you wash dishes, go for walks, socialize or play games on your phone. Don’t be afraid of boredom. Rest is the cradle of creativity.

Take your writing seriously. Give it space; set aside time to write. Give your writing the same respect you would give your exercise routine, your job, or your relationships. Buy a special pen, fix up a special space in which to write, or tell a friend that you are writing.

Don't take your writing so seriously. If you’re not satisfied with something, you can always write about it. Don't compare yourself to others. Tease out your own style. Experiment. Don’t be ashamed of anything you have written. Each word is another step along the path to progress you would not otherwise have made.

Listen to others who are further along than you are. Borrow the techniques, perspectives and approaches of established writers you admire. Look what they've done, listen to what they say about writing. Read blogs featuring established authors’ writing tips.

Screw established writers' writing tips.

***
Sara Lövestam is a Swedish novelist, born in 1980, and living in Stockholm. Lövestam worked for many years as a Swedish teacher for immigrants and says a lot of her inspiration comes from her students. She writes in many genres — historical novels, Y/A, crime — but her books all deal with deeply human struggles, such as challenging perspectives, dealing with alienation, and being true to oneself. The Truth Behind the Lie, originally published in Sweden, earned her the Crime Fiction Academy award for Best Crime Debut, as well as crime fiction awards in France and the Netherlands. 

Thanks to Sue Trowbridge for translating this article from Swedish.

JENNY ROGNEBY: NEW QUEEN OF NORDIC CRIME

From pop artist in the group Cosmo4 to criminal investigator to author, Jenny Rogneby is the new Queen of Nordic Noir. Her latest mystery has already been swept up for movie rights by Le Grisbi Productions and DCM with John Lesher (Birdman, Fury, End of Watch) as the main producer. 

Thank you to Sue Trowbridge for translating Jenny's post from Swedish into English for Mystery Fanfare.

JENNY ROGNEBY:
“At the right time, in the right place, with the right equipment” 

I had never given any thought to becoming an author. I didn’t mind writing, I had actually enjoyed it, even if I hadn’t written anything other than my graduation thesis, or reports in my professional life, but I had never known that I had a talent for writing. Because how do you know that you have talent if you have never tested it?

Several of my author colleagues have wanted to become writers since they were children. There was no such thing in my world. I was born in Ethiopia and came to Sweden as an adopted child when I was only a year old. I grew up in a small village in northern Sweden. Both of my white, Swedish parents worked for the army. For my dad, discipline was very important. If I came home one minute late for dinner, I got a scolding. He’d point to the clock and say, “Jenny, you should be on time, in the right place, with the right equipment.”

The winters were cold and there were often huge amounts of snow. For us children, winter sports were what counted, and I often went skiing and ice skating. I wanted to be an ice princess when I grew up. I had seen the beautiful figure skaters on TV performing elaborate pirouettes on the ice, and I practiced on the river outside my childhood home, which froze to thick ice every winter. There was just one problem: it was so cold. I was always freezing. Mom used to hold my brown fingers between her fair-skinned hands and warm me if she had come along, but finally it just didn't work, I was simply too cold. My parents put me in a ballet school for children instead. It was indoors, and suited me better. I was only four years old, but my interest in dance was awakened, and I decided I wanted to become a performer. After elementary school, I applied to train as a dancer in another city, and was accepted. I moved away from home when I was 15, and then to the capital city of Stockholm when I was 18 because I had been admitted to the Ballet Academy. At this time, I had started to sing as well, and eventually chose to move on to a vocational track for musical theater. I worked as a singer and dancer for many years after that. I released an album in Sweden and in Japan for the big record label JVC. I played for my largest audience as the opening act for Michael Jackson in Tallinn, Estonia, in front of a crowd of nearly 80,000 people.

I still had never thought of writing books. However, I had begun to open my eyes to the society around me. After all, I had moved from a small village to the capital, and there I began to see more clearly people whose lives had gone awry. The homeless, addicts and criminals on the streets. I started thinking about this. I was born in Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries, and I grew up in Sweden, one of the richest countries in the world, and yet there were people who did not have a home, and who ended up with lives of addiction and crime. I wanted to learn more about it, and I began studying at Stockholm University. I studied topics like sociology, psychology, social work, law and criminology, and trained as a criminologist. I worked for many years as a criminal investigator at the Police Authority in Stockholm City, and this is when I began approaching the life of an author.

At the police authority I investigated many different crimes, including robbery, abuse, kidnapping, rape, and murder. The job included interrogating witnesses, plaintiffs and suspects, as well as gathering evidence in preliminary investigations. My job as an investigator gave me many ideas and inspiration for stories. One day, a very odd character appeared in my head. A female police officer who violates the norms of how a woman, mother, and police are expected to behave. She can no longer cope with her predictable, stressed-out, everyday life with a husband, child, and job, and when she decides to change her life, she ends up on a very dangerous, criminal path. She begins to live a double life. During the days she investigates crimes; in the evenings and at night, she commits them.

My ideas about the character Leona Lindberg did not want to let go, and finally I realized that I had to write them down. I decided to try to write a book, and to really take it seriously. I took leave of absence from my job at the police for one year. During that time I was unemployed, I had no income, and I sold my apartment in Stockholm to make it work economically. So nothing would distract me, I moved abroad, to Malta, a small, beautiful island in the middle of the Mediterranean, where the climate is much milder than it is in Sweden. There, in the sun, I walked on the boardwalk by the sea, and thought about my story and my characters.

One year later, I had returned with my first manuscript. I had been told that it was almost impossible to get a book published, especially in my genre; the publishers get a lot of crime novels, and in Sweden, there are already many world-renowned crime writers. I didn't let that stop me, though I have to admit that I thought my chances were small. If I was lucky, maybe a small publisher would be interested. The publishing industry was completely unknown to me. I had no agent, didn't even know what they did, and I had no contacts with publishers. But I had my knowledge of crime, police work, and the justice system, and my manuscript with an odd character that I believed in. I submitted it to several publishers simultaneously to boost my chances, and then I kept my fingers crossed for good luck.

The publishers' websites stated that they needed three months to read submitted manuscripts, so I was hoping for answers sometime that summer. After just one week, however, a publisher called me and wanted to set up a meeting. That same afternoon, I heard from another publisher who was also interested. And so it went, until ten different publishers had gotten in touch with me. Everyone thought that my manuscript was something new, fresh, with a different kind of strong female main character who brought something new to the genre.

Suddenly, I was sitting in meetings with publishers, and I was able to select which one I wanted to publish my book. I chose one of Sweden's largest publishers, and the book has now become a series that has been published in 14 countries. The movie rights have been sold to Hollywood.

I could never have dreamed that I would one day become a full-time writer. I have just started writing the fifth book in the series about police officer Leona Lindberg, and I feel like I have probably succeeded with what my father told me: to be “at the right time, in the right place, with the right equipment.”

More about me and my books:
www.instagram.com/jennyrogneby/
www.facebook.com/jenny.rogneby/

***
In the highly anticipated sequel to the internationally bestselling Swedish thriller, Leona: The Die is Cast, Detective Leona Lindberg, still reeling from her last earth shattering case, is back on the job. In ANY MEANS NECESSARY (Other Press paperback original; February 12, 2019; $16.99; ISBN: 978-1590518847 ), Leona, a completely corrupt detective who plays by her own rules, is in above her head with financial issues, but when a high stakes terrorism case like the one at hand arises, she is mysteriously asked to interview the suicide bomber who amazingly survived his own explosion. Why Leona, when this terrorism case should clearly be air marked for Sweden’s Security Service? 

Swedish Book Covers - Agatha Christie Mysteries

Sue Trowbridge sent me a note about new Swedish editions of Agatha Christie novels. The book cover designer is Sara Acedo. She redesigned several Christie covers for the Swedish market earlier this year, in honor of Dame Agatha's 125th birthday. Very cool. Here's a link to the article (in Swedish) from a Swedish bookseller. If you're into book cover design, you'll want to go to Sara Acedo's page.

Åsa Schwarz: Nephilim

Today I welcome Swedish author Åsa Schwarz. Åsa Schwarz is a contemporary Swedish novelist best known for writing about crime, horror and mysticism. With a degree in Computer System Sciences and a career as an Information Security Consultant, Schwarz creates plots featuring realistic cyber-attacks and digitally street-smart characters. Schwarz made her literary debut in 2005. Since then she has written five critically acclaimed novels. Her stories stand out due to her thorough characterizations and her mix of mystical legends with symbolic puzzles while set in a contemporary city environment. Her novels have been translated into nearly twenty languages and published in four continents. She resides with her husband and two children in Stockholm, Sweden.

Åsa Schwarz:

One day I got an e-mail that would change my life.

It contained a link from my friend Carin about The Nephilim. According to the web site, they were a mixture between human beings and fallen angels, and they are supposed to have been swept away by the Flood. What a novel this could be, wrote Carin. Sure, I thought. But someone else will have to write it. I couldn't see a story angle that interested me enough to want to sit down in front of the computer and start writing.

Days went by and I continued groping among ideas for a story line. I began outlining a novel, only to discard it the following day. I searched for stimulus at libraries and museums, but didn't get any impulses leading anywhere. To say that I was suffering from writer's block would be misleading. I didn't even have a clue what my novel was going to be about. One night the news was buzzing in the background while I cooked dinner. I remember it distinctly. I was expecting my first child and thus continually slightly nauseous, so I had to force myself to chop chicken for the wok. I only wanted to eat mozzarella.

I heard the newscaster say that the UN climate change panel had published a report detailing how much the sea level had already risen. They estimated that the sea level would rise a further few decimeters before 2099. Nobody knew exactly what the consequences of global warming would be, but one thing was certain - there would be a catastrophy.

The sea level is rising, I thought. The sea level is rising. Why did that sound familiar? Where had I read about great bodies of water recently? Suddenly the penny dropped. Carin's e-mail. The Nephilim. The Flood. The world is submerged under water. Is a new Flood on its way? What if The Nephilim weren't swept away by the first Flood? What if they are right here, right now - among us?

Now everything fell into place with astonishing speed. I placed a willful environmentalist in the Old Town of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. With its 15th century houses, old churches, and remnants of old monasteries, this part of town was irresistible. And I named the environmentalist Nova Barakel. She was nineteen years old with a background not even she herself had an inkling of.

I began writing the story at furious speed. Nova breaks into the home of the CEO of Sweden's largest energy company in order to spray paint slogans on the walls. Now one of the greatest of environmental villains will finally get what he deserves. But someone has beaten her to it. In the bedroom she finds the flat's owner brutally murdered, in what looks like a tableau from hell.

She flees the scene but unwittingly leaves forensic evidence behind and is soon a prime suspect with the police. She tries to find out who the murderer is and why he or she seems to be killing people off from her own list of environmental villains. The questions multiply. Why are there constant references to the Flood and Noah's Ark? Who has searched Nova's home? Was her mother's death really an accident? Who is trying to frame Nova for the murders?

I have to stop now, in order not to spoil the story for you. But now, a few years later, the United States is the nineteenth country in which the book is published and I am very curious to see what kind of reception it will get. At the moment of writing I realize that it's been far too long since I visited the museums and shops of New York, the pier in Chicago, and the hills of San Francisco. Hope to see you soon.

Have an enjoyable read!

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In her first novel to be launched in America, Nephilim (Stockholm Text, August 15^th 2013, $14.95 paperback, $6.99 ebook), Swedish crime novelist Åsa Schwarz delivers a page-turning thriller where a mythical conspiracy battles against environmental criminals.