Fredrik Backman has been nominated for LovelyBooks’ Der Leserpreis 2017. He is nominated in the ‘Fiction’ category for Beartown.

Click on “Read more” below to vote for your favorite. The voting ends on November 28th.

Pajtim Statovci (My Cat Yugoslavia, Heartlines) has written a piece for the British newspaper The Guardian, listing his favorite talking animals in literature, as well as his reflections on the characters and titles in question.

To read the piece, click “Read more” below.

Kaspar Colling Nielsen receives the Holberg Medal 2017 for his authorship. The Holberg Medal is one of the most prestigious literary awards in Denmark. The award, named after the father of Danish literature, Ludvig Holberg, has been awarded to a specific title or a whole authorship annually since 1934. Among the previous recipients are Karen Blixen, Leif Panduro, Inger Christensen, Suzanne Brøgger and Carsten Jensen.

The official Swedish bestseller lists for the month of October is out, and coming in at No. 2 in the paperback category is Leif GW Persson and his Can One Die Twice?. Kristina Ohlsson meanwhile comes in at No. 3 on the children’s books list with The Mystery on Eagle’s Cliff, her latest stand-alone children’s book. On the audio and e-book lists the No. 1 spot is occupied by the same title and author: End of Summer, by Anders de la Motte.

The official Swedish book trailer for Sofia Lundberg’s The Red Address Book is out! Published by Forum on November 1st, the book is now out in stores in Sweden.

Translation of the video’s text:

Every life holds so much love, happiness and sorrow.
If only we take the time to listen…
Meet 96-year-old Doris in a charming, heart-warming novel about life’s miracles.

The Red Address Book, Sofia Lundberg
The readers’ favorite that’s now been sold to 28 territories!

On the Danish island of Lolland, a group of internationally renowned scientists and entrepreneurs found a new community for the affluent, aiming to combine the most idyllic and attractive elements of the old world with the latest in technology. To this drone-patrolled countryside paradise moves gallery owner Stig, his wife, the brain scientist Elisabeth, their idealistic daughter, Emma, and the painter Christian.

Elisabeth is headhunted by the research team on the island when they hear of her previous successes with animal experiments, but grows increasingly alarmed as she develops a bond with the novel-writing ape Felix.

After a series of terror attacks in Copenhagen, thousands of Muslim refugees are deported from Denmark to Africa, and the anorectic Emma becomes a central figure in the creation of a parallel society among the old Danish shipping containers left in Mozambique.

The artist Christian paints disintegrating humans that fuse with nature, fetching inspiration from his contact with the much younger Mia.

A violent accident gives the disillusioned gallery owner Stig the chance to deliver an art piece that to his way of thinking could set a new standard for the impact art can have on a society. But the piece will demand sacrifices.

The European Spring is a grotesque and provocative story about freedom, equality and community set in a near future that is all at once unthinkable, alarming and attractive.