The feature film The Pyromaniac depicts the story of an arsonist haunting a small peaceful village. An inferno lurks under the surface as a local policeman uncovers the shocking truth: the pyromaniac is the village fireman. The film, based on Gaute Heivoll’s novel Before I burn, was adapted for the screen by Bjørn Olaf Johannesen and directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg.

The Pyromaniac is set to premiere in Norwegian cinemas on 22nd of April.

The paperback of Fredrik Backman’s second novel, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, debuts at No. 7 on the New York Times Best Seller List. The novel joins Backman’s first title A Man Called Ove, which celebrates its 15th consecutive week on the list, this time at No. 6.

Lars Kepler is the pseudonym of critically acclaimed husband and wife team Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril (b. 1966) and Alexander Ahndoril (b. 1967), authors of the No. 1 internationally bestselling Joona Linna series. With five installments to date, the series has sold eight million copies in 40 languages. The Ahndorils were both established writers before they adopted the pen name Lars Kepler, and have each published several acclaimed novels.

Lars Kepler is the most successful author – in any category – in Sweden.

The Bonnier Publishing Group and Lars Kepler are selling Storytellers Agency to the Salomonsson Agency.

The literary agency Storytellers Agency, of which 70% is owned by the Bonnier Publishing Group and 30% by authors Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril, is being sold to the Salomonsson Agency. The change of ownership means that the Salomonsson Agency will henceforth act as agents for Lars Kepler in all territories and in all formats.

The collaboration upon which the Bonnier Publishing Group and authors Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril (the writers behind the pseudonym Lars Kepler) embarked in 2009 has grown into a sizeable international business incorporating book publication and film and television production in more than 40 countries. In 2013 Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril and the Bonnier Publishing Group set up, on the initiative of the authors, the joint agency Storytellers, which is now being sold to the Salomonsson Agency.

Håkan Rudels, MD, Bonnier Publishing Group:
“This sale to the Salomonsson Agency, the market-leading agency for Scandinavian authors, is a stage in the development of Kepler’s authorship internationally, in all formats.”

With the acquisition of the agency Niclas Salomonsson will take over as MD of Storytellers. Elisabet Brännström, head of Bonnier Rights and formerly head of Storytellers, will remain in her post at Bonnier Rights. The change of ownership comes into force immediately.

Niclas Salomonsson, MD, Salomonsson Agency:
“We are incredibly proud to have been entrusted with the task of further developing one of the most successful crime-writing authorships of our time, Lars Kepler, on the international market. The acquisition is an offensive investment, and we see immense future potential for this authorship.”

Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril:
“We could never have dreamed of the journey we were embarking on together with the Bonnier Publishing Group when we posted the manuscript of The Hypnotist through the letterbox in the spring of 2009. Six books on, we love writing about Joona Linna more than ever, and that’s what we’ll be concentrating on in future. Our collaboration with the Bonnier Publishing Group has always been characterised by innovative thinking, and our shared agency was part of that. It was created from an author’s perspective – and the fact that we are now taking the step to combine our perspective with the Salomonsson Agency’s unique expertise feels exactly right.”

The parties have agreed not to make public the financial details of the exchange.

Pajtim Statovci (b. 1990) moved from Kosovo to Finland with his family when he was two years old. His debut novel, My Cat Yugoslavia, relates in sensitive and finely tuned prose the inner conflict and questions about one’s identity that immigration, homosexuality, and the past might stir. The novel, published in 2014, received widespread acclaim among critics and readers alike, and Statovci won the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize in the category ‘Best Debut’. The awarding jury praised the still only 24-year old author’s ability to combine the dreamlike with the realistic, and give old symbols new meaning and power. At present, Pajtim Statovci studies comparative literature at the University of Helsinki, and screenwriting at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture.

Jørn Lier Horst, author of the Wisting Quartet, has been awarded the Special Award for Excellence in Crime Fiction Writing 2016. Presented by the city of Pila’s Chief of Police in connection with the Crime Fiction Festival held in the Polish city, the award was given to Horst for his “high level of artistry, aesthetic sensibility, and essential credibility in creating a literary image of police work.”