Big Win for Bonnierförlagen

Sweden’s most prestigious book awards, the August Prize, went to the same publishing group for all three of the award categories for the first time: Bonnierförlagen.

“It was a fantastic evening,” said Daniel Sandström, editorial director for Albert Bonniers förlag, in an interview about the award ceremony to Swedish book trade paper Svensk Bokhandel.

Karin Bojs of Albert Bonniers Förlag won Swedish Non-Fiction Book of the Year for Min europeiska familj – De senaste 54 000 åren (My European family – the past 54,000 years). The jury wrote: “An unusual and comprehensive family chronicle, where DNA provides new knowledge about Europeans’ extremely mixed origins. It’s a surprising history painstakingly explained by a stubborn journalist with the help of the latest dizzying scientific advances.  Seldom have 54,000 years passed so easily and so learnedly.”

Swedish Children’s Book of the Year went to När hundarna kommer (when the dogs come) by Jessica Schiefauer, published by Bonnier Carlsen. The jury wrote: “A year passes. The year that Ester and Isak meet. When Isak’s brother, Anton, falls into a spiral of hate, swastikas and violence. And a boy is murdered. Jessica Schiefauer’s young adult novel tells how easy it is to be drawn in, of the wish to belong. It’s also as much about love, of loving so completely that it becomes destructive. The language is poetic, tight and flows easily, like the water that witnesses the events of the book. A language polished with care. In order to explain the horrendous.”

Tipped to win beforehand, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, published by Albert Bonniers Förlag, won Swedish Fiction Book of the Year for his novel Allt jag inte minns (Everything I Don’t Remember). The jury wrote: “How did Samuel die, and why? Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s portrayal of the deceitfulness of memory and testimony is as enthralling as a thriller. But the novel is also a love story and a tale of violence, unforgivable betrayals, and the power of economics. An unconventional narrative structure where several different voices paint the portrait of the protagonist. All written in a sophisticated, toned down prose, where the shadowy existence of undocumented immigrants and criminals collide with the sunny world of privilege in a ruthless and hectic Stockholm.”