Famous Swedish Novelists

Stieg Larsson was a Swedish writer and journalist. He is best remembered for his Millennium trilogy of novels, which were adapted as three films in Sweden. After his sudden death, due to a heart attack, Stieg Larsson was posthumously honored with several awards, such as the Glass Key award, Galaxy British Book Award, and Anthony Award.

August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, painter, essayist, novelist, and poet. He wrote over 30 works of fiction and more than 60 plays in an illustrious career that spanned 40 years. Widely regarded as the father of modern Swedish literature, Strindberg is best remembered for his work The Red Room, which is considered the first modern Swedish novel.

The author of the New York Times bestseller A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman has also been a columnist for the Swedish newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad and the men's magazine Moore Magazine. His book Things My Son Needs to Know about the World was based on his parenting experiences.

Selma Lagerlöf was a Swedish teacher and author. In 1909, Lagerlöf became the first woman to receive the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1914, she became the first woman to be elected as a member by the Swedish Academy. In 1991, Selma Lagerlöf was depicted on a Swedish banknote, becoming the first woman to enjoy this honor, albiet posthumously.

One of Sweden’s most successful crime authors, Camilla Lackberg is known for her iconic books such as The Stonecutter, The Golden Cage, and The Stranger. Her books were also adapted into TV series. Called The Rock Star of Nordic Noir, she is also a former economist and a co-owner of a jewelry business.

David Lagercrantz is a Swedish author and journalist best known for writing internationally acclaimed books like I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye, and The Girl in the Spider’s Web. His biography of Zlatan Ibrahimović has been translated into over 30 languages and is widely regarded as the best footballer's autobiography of his generation.

Swedish author, feminist, and political activist Eva Gabrielsson is also an architect who chiefly deals in house and office construction with sustainable architecture. She was a partner of Swedish author Stieg Larsson till his death. Apparently, they never married to keep their whereabouts a secret from extremists.

John Ajvide Lindqvist is a renowned Swedish author of horror fiction, known for his bestselling books such a Let the Right One In and Harbour. Interestingly, he was initially a conjurer and had then had a 12-year stint as a stand-up comedian. He has also written scripts for Swedish TV.

Hailed as one the most popular Swedish actors, known for his success both on stage and screen, Jonas Karlsson first took up the pen to write a play. Enthused by the praise he received from the critics and audiences alike, he began writing fictions, starting with a collection of stories before publishing several novels like The Perfect Friend, Invoice etc.  

Before venturing into a writing career, Hans Rosenfeldt had been a sea lion keeper, a teacher, a driver, and an actor. Now known for creating series such as The Bridge and Marcella, he has also co-written several crime novels, such as The Secret, with his friend and co-author Michael Hjorth.

Swedish author Jonas Jonasson is best known for his bestselling comic novel The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. He had a successful career as a journalist and even owned a media company, but later sold all his belongings and settled near Lake Lugano, focusing on his writing career.

Swedish poet and author Linda Bostrom Knausgard is known for her novels Helioskatastrofen and the August Prize-winning Välkommen til Amerika, or Welcome to America. She is also the former wife of Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgård and the daughter of actor Ingrid Boström.

Håkan Nesser is a Swedish screenwriter, author, and former school teacher. He is best known for his crime novels about a fictional retired commissioner named Van Veeteren. These novels have been translated into many European languages and have achieved international fame. 

German-born novelist and playwright Peter Weiss was forced to move to England, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia, to avoid Nazi persecution, and eventually moved to Sweden and took up Swedish citizenship. Initially a painter and photographer, he later turned to filmmaking. His best-known works include the play The Investigation and the novel The Aesthetics of Resistance.

Nobel Prize-winning Swedish author Pär Lagerkvist is remembered for his bestselling novels The Dwarf and Barabbas. He mostly used religious figures to examine the question of good and evil. One of his prose novellas, The Hangman, was later adapted for the stage. He also chaired the Swedish Academy.

A French citizen by birth, but born and raised in Sweden, it took Jan Guillou thirty years to gain Swedish citizenship. Expelled from school for bad behavior, he overcame his shortcomings to become an award-winning journalist and author, hugging limelight for exposing Swedish secret intelligence agency. Currently owner of a large publishing house, he remains active as a column writer.

Apart from being a famous poet in Sweden, Karin Boye also gained international fame with her sci-fi novel Kallocain. She was one of the chief figures of Swedish modern poetry and of the Clarté Socialist movement. After separating from her economist husband, Leif Björk, she had 2 lesbian relationships. She died by suicide.

Nobel Prize-winning Swedish author Harry Martinson grew up in foster homes and ran away at 16 to become a sailor. He was the first working-class author to be named to the Swedish Academy. His best-known works include the poetry collection Trade Wind and the novel The Road.

Swedish-born Dutch actor Amanda Ooms is best known for her appearance in the Swedish TV show Stjärnorna på slottet. She was also seen in The Expendables 2 and has been part of countless Swedish shows and movies. An author, too, she has penned books such as Tåla mod.

Mostly educated at home by her mother and her governess, Ellen Key grew up to be a well-known difference feminist author, concurrently playing important role in the Modern Breakthrough movement. Also a suffragist, she wrote on varied subjects including family life, ethics and education, advocating child centric teaching as well as parenting, inspiring many authors and educators including Maria Montessori.

Swedish author and journalist Per-Olov Enquist was raised by a single mother and excelled in high jump in his early years. Known for his documentary approach in his writings, he penned award-winning novels, such as Legionärerna. The Nordic Prize winner died at age 85, after a long battle with cancer.

Stig Dagerman was a Swedish writer and journalist. His works became popular in the aftermath of the Second World War as they deal with universal problems of sexuality and social philosophy, of morality and conscience, of love, compassion, guilt, fear, loneliness, and justice. Many of Stig Dagerman's works have been translated into English.

Vilhelm Moberg was a Swedish author and historian who is internationally known for his works on Swedish emigration to the USA in the 19th century. Moberg took it upon himself to give voice to the poor and illiterate, writing several books on the subject including The Earth is Ours trilogy and the Emigrant series. Largely self-educated, he also wrote several non-frictions including two volumes on Swedish history.

Swedish author, playwright, and journalist Hjalmar Söderberg had begun his career as a civil servant, before switching to full-time writing. Known for his novels such as Doctor Glas and Martin Birck’s Youth, he also penned short story collections such as Historietter. His themes are often melancholic and cynical.

Lars Noren was a Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet. A prominent playwright, Noren is best remembered for staging realistic plays that often revolve around personal relations and family. In 1971, he was honored with the Aftonbladet's literary prize. In 2003, Lars Noren was awarded the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize.

Viktor Rydberg was a Swedish writer best remembered for his novel Singoalla, which was published in 1858. He is also remembered for his most ambitious novel Den siste Atenaren, which was published in 1859. Renowned for his versatility, Viktor Rydberg experimented with different genres, including mythology.

Frans G. Bengtsson was a Swedish poet, novelist, essayist, and biographer. He is best remembered for his magnum opus, a biography on Charles XII. Bengtsson is also remembered for his work Röde Orm, a Viking saga novel, which was translated as The Long Ships. 

Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril is a Swedish writer best known for her debut novel Stjärneborg, which received the prestigious Katapult Prize in 2004. In addition to her work as a writer, Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril has also been a literary critic for Dagens Nyheter and Göteborgs-Posten, two of Sweden's largest newspapers.

Hjalmar Bergman was a Swedish playwright and writer. He is best remembered for his fictional works; he even created a fictional town named Wadköping, which was modelled after his hometown Örebro. Hjalmar Bergman tried his hand as a manuscript writer in Hollywood before falling prey to narcotics abuse and alcoholism, from which he died at the age of 47.

Lars Gyllensten was a Swedish physician and author. He started his career as an associate professor of histology at the Karolinska Institute from 1955 to 1973. In 1973, he left the institute to focus solely on his career as a writer. Few of Lars Gyllensten's literary works have been translated into German, French, and English.

Swedish author and poet Göran Tunström is remembered for his depictions of his native region, Sunne; for his autobiographical tone; and for his magic realism. Though he was active as an author for a long time, it wasn’t until his work Juloratoriet was made into a movie that he gained popularity.

Per Olof Sundman was a Swedish politician and writer. He is best remembered for his 1967 novel The Flight of the Eagle which earned him the Nordic Council's Literature Prize in 1968. In 1975, Per Olof Sundman was inducted into the Swedish Academy as a member.