PRIZES

To my great joy, my publishing house Natur och kultur gave me a generous subsidy: the reason is that my latest novel, Alkemistens dotter, was nominated for the August prize (which it, alas, didn't win even if the nomination itself was very flattering).

Two days later, the swedish Samfundet De Nio decided to award me a prize of 30,000 SEK for my writings - very welcome and pleasurable.

So, now, being moved from the gutter  where I've spend most of my life to the swedish cultural establishment, despite reputation as being a provoker and a bad boy. This means I've got to change my style. Here goes:

PRAISE OF THE ALCHEMIST'S DAUGHTER

”Edenborg has created his own Kill Bill, a swedish warrior princess. /…/ I understand why the novel was nominated for the August Prize, it would not surprise me if it won. ”Alchemist’s Daughter” is sharper than anything Edenborg has written earlier. The style is more compelling, the plot stronger and there is a restrained intensity that makes the text not wriggles on the surface. It is this grim darkness that makes it interesting and entertaining. / ... / Here are secret ciphers that must be solved, the hunt for the philosopher’s stone and much else that makes of ”The Alchemist’s daughter” a sort of Harry Potter for grown-ups. / ... / The novel is irresistible, Rebis Drakenstierna is a bombshell.  (Anna Hallberg, Dagens Nyheter

”It is a compelling depiction of the times, an action-packed and steamy tale of adventure and a penetrating portrait of a young woman’s development. All in one. I can’t stop reading. / ... / ”The Alchemist’s Daughter” could have remained a rich and entertaining tale, but Edenborg wants more than that. The depiction of Rebis’ struggle with herself, with her feelings and conscience, is the heart of the story. And the sweet thing is that she comes so close to her readers that I eventually hope she actually succeed in his task. / ... / Oh yes. The August jury thought quite right to designate this novel for the price. ” (Oline Stig, Syd-svenska Dagbladet)

”Exciting in Dan Brown’s best-spirit.”  (Ulrika Kärnborg, Aftonbladet)

”An easy to read suspense novel, while full of layers of ideas of what life is, that makes me as a reader to reflect and ponder.”  (Simon Olofsson, Piteå-tidningen

”The Alchemist’s daughter impresses in it’s deep historical knowledge. The alchemical details sometimes becomes almost magical: athanor, dew salt, phioler, transmutation. It is an epic novel.” (Max Hebert, Gävle Dagblad

”The Alchemist’s Daughter is an entertaining hunt for doomsday, where fantasy, horror and esotericism are boiled into a simmering black mixture ” (Ann Lingebrandt, ETC

”The novel may be bloody, sometimes horrifying, and juicy. In the end, it’s a tale of carres­sing, devout love. A love that neither demands the destruction of the person or the universe and that, in an unusual literary and awesome way, molds women in a historical milieu without making them victims ” (Ingrid Bosseldahl, Göteborgs-Posten

”The intrigue in Carl-Michael Edenborg’s new novel is irresibly grand…the Alchemist’s Dauther is a shamelessly entertaining novel.” (John Sjögren, Upsala Nya Tidning

”Rebis’ journey through her world and her time creates both laughter and tears… The Alchemist’s Daughter is a book that should be read in school as part of the history curriculum.” (Tharos Gröning

”Edenborg is a brilliant stylist and teller of tales. But except of being a vertiginous historical adventure, filled with color, fragrances, stench and fine details, The Alchemist’s Daughter is also something else and more. It tells us something absolutely timeless about the sould of man.” (Anna Rudberg-W, Östgöta Correspondenten)

ÁLVARO ENRIGUE

Monday October 27th, I had a public colloquy om the Internationell författarscen in Malmö with the great Mexican writer Álvaro Enrigue about his recent novel Muerte Subita (Sudden death) that has been named Tiebreak in swedish, published by Natur & kultur.

 

If you're interested in Álvaros work, in the colonization of Mexico, in testicles, virility, baroque art and violence, you should listen to our conversation. You find it here, it's one hour long, included are also the actress Hannah Canvert's readings of some essential passages in the novel:

https://soundcloud.com/malm-bibblans-radio/alvaro-enrigue-i-samtal-med-carl-michael-edenborg


I was very flattered when Alváro  afterwards gav me hug and told me that he thought ours was the best writer's discussion he'd ever experienced. According to him, I am the only critic and reader who has understood the secret centre of the novel: Bolyn's balls. So we talked a lot about machismo, castration and testicles.

THE ALCHEMIST'S DAUGHTER NOMINATED FOR THE AUGUST PRIZE

The August prize (Augustpriset) is the most prestigious literary prize in Sweden. To my great joy, my latest novel, The Alchemist's Daughter: End of the Universe (Alkemistens dotter: Slutet på universum) has been nominated together with five other works.

My precious novel, My Cruel Fate (Mitt grymma öde, 2012), a historical phantasy about the composer Händel, has been sold to Italy and Denmark.

This time I represent my own authorship without middlehands. Are you interested in receiving reading copies, sample translations or discuss rights, please don't hesitate to contact me. You can also contact my swedish publishing house, Natur och kultur.

My mail: cedenborg(AT)gmail.com
Cell phone: +46704490922

For more info, reading copies etc, contact Bonnie Halling at Natur och kultur: Bonnie.Halling(AT)nok.se

TRANSLATIONS OF MY CRUEL FATE

To my great joy, two foreign editors have bought the rights and will produce translations of Mitt grymma öde, my novel about the composer Händel, I believe both the editions will be published in the spring of 2015.

The publishers:

Forlaget Damgaard (Denmark)

Imprimatur editore (Italy)

I'm looking forward to more offers from the rest of the world!

THE ALCHEMIST'S DAUGHTER

Starting in early 2013, I've noe finished another historical novel, called The Alchemist's Daughter: The End of the Universe. It's 370 pages  will be published by Natur & kultur in Octobre 20014. The guys at the publisher's are real enthusiastic about the work and are puttting a lot of effort into it.

Lately, I have workd with av collection of erotic short stories to be published by Linds bokförlag in the spring 2015. Uncommonly enough, they will be published in my own name, no pseudonym. I think there might be some surprised interest here.

In the Alchemist's daughter I have cleaned away all form av sex, because of the chocked reactions to my novel about Händel, My Cruel Fate, which many readers and critics thought were steeped in perversion and obscenity. Well, the hëroine of the alchemist's daughter, "Rebis", is the opposite of this.

(I have enclosed a story in the erotic collection, though, where the reader will learn what actually happened behind the closed bedroom door between Rebis and her Lover Andreas.)

(The design of the book is made by the highly talanted Elina Grandin. Everything about the material book is just so marvellously beautiful!)

FIRST REVIEW OF HUNGER HOUSE

This spring, Borderline Press published the english translation of mine and Loka Kanarp's graphic novel Hungerhuset: Hunger House. Recently, I found a very well written and well thought review which I think is the best text about the book I've ever seen.

The review is written by the Manchester journalist Conori Bell-Bhuiyan. She has really understood the originality of the work, which she compares to the "atmospheric existentialism of the Swedish cinematic thrillers..." And she warns the sensitive from reading the last page of the story.

"...it’s comics stripped right back into the simple lines of cartoons – expression and a whisper of exposition and the rest is left to the imagination. There’s nothing of the gory richness that horror has come to align itself with, rather an elegant framework for the story to drape itself insidiously across, slowly seeping into the gaps the way dark and dusky dampness seep into the frame of an old abandoned house that’s more than just an inanimate building.

Read the whole glorious thing here: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/hunger-house-a-deceptively-simple-grown-up-ghost-story-from-duo-cm-edenborg-and-loka-kanarp/

THE HUNGER HOUSE & MØRKET VENTER

To our great joy, two more translations of mine and Loka Kanarp's graphic ghost novel Hungerhuset will be published this spring:

The UK publisher Borderline Press will release the english translation - Hunger House - on March 22nd:

And the danish publisher Damgaard will release its version - Mørket venter - in June:

It's not very common for swedish graphic novels to receive such foreign interest, and me and Loka are immensely happy that Elsa's and Fredrike's uncanny adventures will be read all over the world!

(If you wonder, me and Loka have started working with a brand new project, a graphic novel about russian revolutionaries in late 18th century, called Love and Terrorism. So keep your eyes open!)