Delightful news from the North: it has just been announced that author Karin Erlandsson is now nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, for her novel Home (2021).
The jury stated about the book:
“In Hem, she broadens the register impressively. It can be described as a collective novel, but by the same token it can be seen as a series of short stories that share the same basic theme. Åland’s six-thousand-year history, from the Stone Age to the present day, is concentrated here and shown through a consistent women’s perspective. (…)
The novel uses its linguistically masterful style to pay tribute to an insular world, to a pattern of life close to nature where women bear the ultimate responsibility for the workings of day-to-day life.”
Full statement can be found here.
The media has stated about the novel:
“Home is a powerful and moving collection of texts that cover the complete register of emotions. Karin Erlandsson has the gift of capturing an entire world in a single detail, to condense heart-bursting longing and restlessness into a single turned back or scoured floor.”
– National broadcasting company Svenska Yle
“[…] it’s a pleasure to let oneself be swept away by Erlandsson’s sure hand and her way of forming historical events from the perspective of the individual. She often hits the nail on the head when she describes how things feel, especially when they don’t feel good.”
– Hufvudstadsbladet newspaper
This is the 5th time Erlandsson has been nominated for the prize; she was previously nominated for The Mink Farm (2014); Pearl Fisher (2017, children’s and YA category); Victor (2019, children’s and YA category); and The Night Express (2020, children’s and YA category). The winners will be announced on the 1st of November.
Congratulations to the author!