‘A Man Called Ove’ wins Best European Comedy at the European Film Awards
The feature film adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s international bestseller A Man Called Ove is the winner of the 2016 European Film Awards’ Best European Comedy Award. The film received the award this weekend at the gala held in Wroclaw, Poland.
In addition to taking home the award for best comedy, leading actor Rolf Lassgård was also nominated for the Best European Actor Award for his performance as the lovable curmudgeon Ove, and the film for the People’s Choice Award for Best European Film.
‘The Silence of the Sea’ one of The Boston Globe’s Best Books of 2016
The daily newspaper The Boston Globe has chosen Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s The Silence of the Sea as one of their Best Books of 2016. The Silence of the Sea is the sixth installment in the series about Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, and has previously won the Petrona Award. It is the only translated title to enter The Boston Globe’s list of Best Books of 2016 in the Mystery category.
Roslund & Thunberg winners of the 2017 Konomys Award
Roslund & Thunberg’s The Father is the winner of 2017’s Konomys Award in Japan. The Konomys Award – the shortened version of the full name Kono Mystery ga Sugoi (“This Mystery is Amazing”) – is an annual award given to the most popular international and national suspense novel of the year. Roslund & Thunberg’s The Father takes home 2017’s award in the international category.
Yrsa Sigurdardóttir shortlisted for The Blood Drop
Yrsa Sigurdardóttir’s The Absolution has been shortlisted for 2017’s The Blood Drop, the Icelandic award for best crime fiction novel of the year. The Absolution is the third installment in the Freyja & Huldar series and was just published in Iceland to rave reviews.
The two previous installments in the Freyja & Huldar series have also been shortlisted for The Blood Drop: The Legacy was shortlisted and won in 2015, and The Vortex was shortlisted in 2016.
‘The Rabbit’ is 2016’s second most sold book in Japan
Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin’s The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep is once again at the top of the international bestseller lists. This time it is Amazon Japan and Oricon, the largest sales ranking company in Japan, that has announced that The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep became the second most sold book, across all categories, in Japan in 2016.
‘A Man Called Ove’ stays at No.1 on the New York Times Best Seller List
Fredrik Backman’s debut novel A Man Called Ove is No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List for the third week in a row. This marks the 49th consecutive week on the list for the novel, where it also appears at No. 6 in the combined print and ebook category.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry continues to make a strong showing as well, staying at its No. 4 spot in its 33rd consecutive week on the list.
Jørn Lier Horst chosen as Krimfestivalen’s Guest of Honor
The Norwegian crime fiction festival Krimfestival – one of the foremost crime fiction festivals in the world according to The Guardian – has chosen Jørn Lier Horst as their Guest of Honor in 2017. This means that Jørn Lier Horst’s authorship and novels will be in focus during the entire festival as it takes place in Oslo during March 9-11, 2017.
Jo Nesbø and Jørn Lier Horst & Hans Jørgen Sandnes No. 1 and No. 2 in Norway
The official Norwegian bestseller list for November is in, and Jo Nesbø and Jørn Lier Horst & Hans Jørgen Sandnes top the Children’s Book list with their latest publications for kids. At No. 1 is Jo Nesbø’s Can Doctor Proctor Save Christmas?, published just at the start of the month, and at No. 2 comes Jørn Lier Horst & Hans Jørgen Sandnes’ Operation Ghost, the tenth installment in the beloved Detective Agency No. 2 series.
Salomonsson Agency gets a new CEO
Julia Angelin takes up the post as the new CEO of Salomonsson Agency as of today, December 1st, 2016. The former CEO Niclas Salomonsson will from here on focus wholeheartedly on his work as a literary agent.
Julia Angelin has worked as a financial accountant and a literary agent at the agency since 2013. She has, besides representing a list of numerous prominent literary and crime fiction writers, founded the agency’s children’s books section, now a pillar of the agency.
Niclas Salomonsson:
-I started this agency to help the world discover Scandinavian voices – that’s my passion, and that’s what I’m good at. And that is also where I want to put my complete focus. Now I would like to pass the baton on to Julia, who is someone that possesses a wide competence and furthermore one of the best agents I have met during my seventeen years in the business. She has the drive to take the agency – and more importantly, our authors – to new heights.
Julia Angelin:
-I am of course thrilled to be shown such trust and confidence, and I hope to be able to continue the work of developing the agency in the same spirit as Niclas has done. That he has gone from doing everything by himself and fighting alone for his authors, to running one of Europe’s premier agencies, is something that is incredibly inspiring. My focus will be on the whole: on the authors and screenwriters, on the writing, and on the ideas themselves.
The Grand Audiobook Prize 2016
Lars Kepler’s The Rabbit Hunter, Roslund & Hellström’s Three Minutes, Kristina Ohlsson’s Blighted Souls, Anne Holt’s Offline, and Leif GW Persson’s Can One Die Twice? have all been shortlisted for the Swedish book award The Grand Audiobook Prize in the Suspense category.
Real American Jeans by Jan Guillou is shortlisted in the Literary Fiction category and Kristina Ohlsson’s The Mystery of Hester Hill is shortlisted in the Children’s Books category.
The winners of The Grand Audiobook Prize will be crowned in March 2017 at an award gala in Stockholm. To vote for your favorite author and audiobook, click “Read more” below.