
Photo: Thron Ullberg
Martin Widmark (b. 1961) is an acclaimed Swedish children’s book author known for popular series such as The JerryMaya Detective Agency, Nelly Rapp, Halvdan the Viking and many more. His books have received countless of awards, sold more than 15 million copies, and been translated into 38 languages. Many of the books have been adapted into several feature films and TV series and been made into board games, theater, and video games.
Martin is engaged in issues concerning reading comprehension of children and young people and is considered one of the most prominent writers of children’s fiction today. He has received multiple prestigious awards. In 2014, he was awarded the Swedish Government’s medal Illis quorum for his work to encourage young people’s reading.
Before becoming a full-time author, Martin Widmark worked as a middle school instructor and a Swedish language teacher. In the year 2000, he made his debut with the book To Catch a Tiger (Att fånga en tiger). Since then, he has written over a hundred books for children and young people and is today one of Sweden’s most popular children’s book writers.
Swedish writer Martin Widmark (b. 1961) and illustrator Helena Willis (b. 1964) have together created the bestselling children’s book series The JerryMaya Detective Agency for ages 6-9.
The popular books with the young detectives Jerry and Maya are constantly on the best-seller lists, on the libraries’ most popular lists and have been awarded the children’s own book award 12 times.
Shortlisted for the Adlibris Awards (Best Children’s 6-12) Sweden – Maskeradmysteriet The Masquerade Mystery | 2022 |
The Emil Prize (by the Småland Academy, in honor of Astrid Lindgren) Sweden | 2021 |
USBBY Best International Books Sweden – Huset som vaknade The House of Lost and Found | 2019 |
The Crime Time Awards (Best Children’s Book) | 2019 |
Astrid Lindgren’s World Scholarship Sweden | 2015 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Fängelsemysteriet The Prison Mystery | 2015 |
The Illi’s quorum medal Sweden | 2014 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Brandkårsmysteriet The Fire Brigade Mystery | 2014 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Cykelmysteriet The Bicycle Mystery | 2013 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Födelsedagsmysteriet The Birthday Mystery | 2012 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Simborgarmysteriet The Swimming Pool Mystery | 2011 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Campingmysteriet The Campsite Mystery | 2010 |
The Blood Hound (Best Children's and Youth Detective story) Sweden – Nåjdens sång The Song of the Wise One | 2008 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Biblioteksmysteriet The Library Mystery | 2007 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Guldmysteriet The Gold Mystery | 2006 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Tidningsmysteriet The Newspaper Mystery | 2005 |
The Blood Hound Sweden – Tidningsmysteriet The Newspaper Mystery | 2005 |
The Book Jury Prize Sweden – Nelly Rapp och varulvarna Nelly Rapp and the Werewolves | 2004 |
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The winning titles of the 2022’s Adlibris Awards have been announced. Lars Kepler’s The Spider wins ‘Crime Novel of the Year’, Anders Hansen & Mats Wänblad’s The Happiness Cure for Teens wins ‘Young Adult of the Year’ and Martin Widmark takes home ‘Children’s book 6-12 of the Year’ with his The Masquerade Mystery.
Adlibris is the leading book retailer in the Nordics and the Adlibris Award was founded in 2019 to celebrate the site’s greatest titles.
The nominees for this year’s Swedish Storytel Awards have been announced. The Storytel Awards have been bestowed since 2007 in Sweden to highlight the best audio books of the year. The awards are granted within six categories: Suspense, Fiction, Non-fiction, Feelgood, YA, and Children’s books.
Among the nominees for suspense are Lars Kepler’s The Spider, Anders de la Motte’s The Mountain King, Kristina Ohlsson’s Dimmed Lights, Anders de la Motte and Måns Nilsson’s Death Goes Antiquing, and Liza Marklund’s The Mire.
The Details by Ia Genberg is featured within the fiction category.
Meanwhile, Anders Hansen and Mats Wänblad’s The Happiness Cure for Teens and Elaf Ali’s Who Said Anything About Love? feature on the YA list, whilst Martin Widmark’s The Masquerade Mystery and Stories from Valleby: The mysterious letter are in the running for the children’s books award.
Readers will be able to vote for their favorite works until February 5, after which a jury will pick a winner among the three candidates with the most votes in each category.
To cast your vote, click “Read more” below.
The official list of the bestselling books of 2022 has just been released. Published towards the end of October, Lars Kepler’s The Spider performed a remarkable feat and became the most sold novel in Sweden of last year. Also featuring on the top 10 is Ia Genberg’s August Prize winning The Details which comes in at No. 9 on the fiction list, Björn Natthiko Lindeblad’s I May Be Wrong at No. 8 on the non-fiction list and No. 4 on the paperback list. The paperback list also sees Anders de la Motte & Måns Nilsson’s A House to Die For on the No. 2 spot and Liza Marklund’s The Polar Circle at No. 5, while Martin Widmark’s The Masquerade Mystery takes the No. 8 spot on the children’s list.
The nominees for 2022’s Adlibris Awards have been announced. Adlibris is the leading book retailer in the Nordics and the Adlibris Award was founded in 2019 to celebrate the site’s greatest titles. The 10 nominated titles in the 9 respective categories have been selected by a jury of Adlibris employees from all works published in 2022.
Ia Genberg’s The Details is shortlisted in the ’Fiction’ category.
Amongst the nominated titles in the ‘Crime Fiction’ category are Lars Kepler’s The Spider, Anders de la Motte & Måns Nilsson’s Death Goes Antiquing and Liza Marklund’s The Mire.
In the ‘Childrens’ category – Jonas Gardell’s The Story of the Little Sparrow is shortlisted for ‘Children’s 0-6’ and Martin Widmark’s The Masquerade Mystery is nominated for ‘Children’s 6-12’. Anders Hansen’s Brain Blues for Teens is nominated for the ‘Young Adult’ category.
The winners will be announced on January 25, 2023.
The official bestseller lists for the month of October are out, and Lars Kepler’s The Spider grabs the top spot on the hardcover list for fiction, coming in at No. 1 followed by Anders Roslund’s 100 percent at No. 5.
Martin Widmark’s The Masquerade Mystery comes in at No. 3 on the bestseller list for children’s, and Johan Theorin’s Weathered Bones is No. 2 on the list for paperback.
The thirty-first installment in Martin Widmark’s JerryMaya Detective Agency series, The Masquerade Mystery, is No. 1 also this week on the official Swedish bestseller list for children’s books.
The thirty-first installment in Martin Widmark’s beloved JerryMaya Detective Agency series, The Masquerade Mystery, is No. 1 also this week on the official Swedish bestseller list for children’s books.
The Masquerade Mystery, the latest book in Martin Widmark’s immensely popular JerryMaya Detective Agency series, jumps to No. 1 on the official weekly bestseller list for children’s books in Sweden.
Jonas Gardell’s The Story of the Little Sparrow features at No. 1 and Martin Widmark’s The Great Summer Holiday Book comes in at No. 3 on the official list for children’s fiction in Sweden.