Nordin Agency are proud to announce that moments ago Andrzej Tichý’s Wretchedness (Eländet) was shortlisted for this years August Prize in the adult fiction category.
Wretchedness is an immediate and important portrayal of a suburb in Malmö, which for too long has been neglected by society. Told through the eyes of a young cellist awaiting a train at Malmö’s central station, suppressed memories and emotions from his own troubled past erupt to the surface following an encounter with a homeless man.
Tichý’s modern stream of consciousness form an experimental prose that enhances the political undercurrent, making Wretchedness a true piece of art.
Here’s the jury’s motivation:
‘One morning a young cellist meets himself – or someone he could have been – in the form of a beggar. From a repressed past rises a flow of voices, which testifies to vulnerability, abuse and violence. What should survivors do with their history? Can you be in solidarity with the friends you left behind? Andrzej Tichý depicts a miserable reality in a hard-hitting form. His polyphonic novel has a hard, rhythmic language and an inexorable fury.’
Wretchedness is Andrzej Tichý’s forth novel. His authorship is undoubtedly of growing importance and all of Nordin Agency will have their fingers crossed for a win.
The August Prize is named after the famous Swedish author August Strindberg, and is one of the most celebrated and prestigious literary prizes in Sweden.
Founded by the Swedish Publishers’ Association in 1989, the intention was to institute an annual award for the best Swedish books of the year in order to increase public interest in Swedish contemporary literature. The August Prize is awarded in three categories: Best Swedish Fiction Book of the Year, Best Swedish Non-Fiction Book of the Year, and Best Swedish Children’s Book of the Year.
