The Swedish Academy elects two new members

At its statutory gathering yesterday, the Swedish Academy voted to appoint two new members: Ellen Mattson, to succeed Jayne Svenungsson on Chair No. 9, and Anne Swärd, who succeeds Sara Stridsberg on Chair No. 13.

Ellen Mattson is a writer, born in 1962, and living in Ljungskile on Sweden’s west coast. Her first published novel, Nattvandring, came in 1992. Since then, she has written almost a dozen novels, most recently Sommarleken (2016) – also produced as a radio serial by the Swedish Radio Company – and Tornet och fåglarna (2017), an historical novel set in 1719 during the Great Northern War. Ellen Mattson has written for the stage and radio theatre as well. She has received several literary prizes, among them the Svenska Dagbladet Literature Prize (1998), the Nine Society’s Winter Prize (2009) and the Gerard Bonnier Prize (2018).

Anne Swärd is a writer, born in 1969 and resident in Fyledalen, near Ystad in southern Sweden. Her first published book, Polarsommar (2003), was nominated for the August Prize. Among her other novels are Kvicksand (2006), awarded the Mare Kandre Prize, and Till sista andetaget (2010), awarded the Helga Prize in Memory of Hjalmar Söderberg. Her most recent novel, Vera, was published in 2017. Her books have been translated into about twenty languages. Anne Swärd studied at the University of Arts, Crafts and Design and has worked as an art teacher and illustrator.

The two new members will be formally inducted at the Academy’s annual Ceremonial Meeting on 20 December.