JOHN AJVIDE LINDQVIST has been called the Swedish equivalent to Stephen King by The Daily Mirror, a Nordic horror master who leaves his readers terrified yet craving more. Born in 1968, he grew up in the Stockholm suburb Blackeberg. He wanted to become something awful and fantastic and started as a conjurer (and came in second in the Nordic card trick championship!). Then he was a stand-up comedian for twelve years before finding his true calling – writing.
HE HAS SOMETHING that nearly all of us lack – an imagination that seems almost limitless and a fabulous language, something that tempts you to laugh in the middle of the darkness and creates new worlds. Something that makes you allow him to take you by the hand and lead you into the unknown.
FOR THE PAST twenty years he has written novels, stage plays and screenplays. His works have reached readers in over 25 territories and he has received numerous awards such as the Selma Lagerlöf Literary Prize, the GP Literary Award, and Best Novel in Translation (Norway). He has been shortlisted for the August Prize and the Swedish National Radio Literature Prize.
ASKED IF HE enjoys fiction in translation, Stephen King responded in a New York Times interview on June 4, 2015: ”…And of course the wonderful John Ajvide Lindqvist.”
Mia Ajvide
BOOKS
Fiction
