I still don't know if it's true or if it's a dream. I dreamed last night that I was on my way to the August Prize Gala but I somehow never got here, Lina Wolff tells TT after the award ceremony.
"The Corpse We Buried" is an entertaining and well-formed story, the August Prize jury notes. It follows the two orphaned sisters Jolly and Peggy who grow up "among pedophiles and sadists in the darkest part of Skåne". The village they live in is very reminiscent of Lina Wolff's hometown of Hörby, where the so-called Helén murder took place in 1989.
It feels unlikely. That this book that I wrote, even though it was so far away, a book that is about such a dark place in Skåne, must have appealed to some people for me to be standing here now, she notes.
"Virtuoso"
This is the second time that Wolff has received the August Prize, the first time was in 2016 for "The Polyglot Lovers".
It was an adventure to write "The Polyglot Lovers" too, but it was a very different experience. I feel doubly happy precisely because it feels like it's not just me this time. It feels like it's Victoria Benedictsson and these women from my village, that there are a few of us, she says.
Lina Wolff is not the only one to receive the award for the second time. Twelve years ago, Bea Uusma was awarded the August Prize for her debut book about the Andrée expedition. Now she receives her second prize in the non-fiction category for “Vitön”.
It's so strange to compete in a book, so I had zero expectations of getting this, she tells TT after the award ceremony.
But she is already completely sure where the prize money will go.
They will go straight into the next polar expedition, says Bea Uusma.
Bea Uusma has tirelessly continued her attempts to solve the mystery of how the members of Andrée's polar expedition died. "It is a captivating journey in the footsteps of the balloonists, told with undisguised obsession," the jury writes in its justification.
Raccoons
The graphic novel "Klara – The City of the Raccoons" by Fabian Göranson receives the August Prize in the children and youth category. The jury describes it as "virtuoso" and praises the story's "fast-paced, multi-faceted adventure."
The book, which is the first part of a trilogy, was created based on Fabian Göranson's fascination with three different things: the demolition of the Klarakvarteren neighborhood in Stockholm, children creating their own communities, and raccoons.
Göranson has also written books for adults, but children's and young adult books are closer to his heart.
It's a prize for my soul, he tells TT after the award ceremony.
Sara Ullberg/TT
Ann Edliden/TT
Facts: The August Prize Winners
TT
Fiction book of the year: "The Corpses We Buried" by Lina Wolff
Non-fiction book of the year: "Vitön" by Bea Uusma
Children's and Young Adult Book of the Year: "Klara - The City of Raccoons" by Fabian Göranson
Little August Prize: "Ketchup" by Maja Grönroos
Swedish Publishers Association's Honorary Award: Littfest in Umeå
