Klas Östergren

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Klas Östergren (born 20 February 1955) is a Swedishnovelist,short story writer,screenwriter, andtranslator.

Klas Östergren

Born	(1955-02-20)20 February 1955 (age 70) Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Novelist,screenwriter,translator
Nationality	Swedish
Period	1975–present
Genre	Literary
Notable works	Gentlemen Gangsters
Spouses	Pernilla August (m. 1982;div. 1989) Cilla Östergren
Children	4

Östergren had a breakthrough with his fourth novelGentlemen in 1980. He has been awarded numerous Swedish literary prizes, such asDoblougska priset in 1998 and the grand prize by theliterary society,Samfundet De Nio in 2005, as well as being nominated for theGuldbagge Award for Best Screenplay in 1999. His works have been translated to more than ten languages. In 2014 he was elected a member of theSwedish Academy, but resigned from his seat in 2018.

Biography

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Klas Östergren in 2007.

Klas Östergren in 2014.

Klas Östergren at theSwedish Academy in 2017.

Östergren was born in 1955 onLilla Essingen inStockholm.^[1] He was the youngest of four siblings.^[2] His father was Finnish and his mother was Swedish.^[3] He went to secondary school atSödra Latins gymnasium.^[4]

Klas Östergren was soon to turn twenty years old when his first novel,Attila, was published in 1975.^[2] He gained critical acclaim and high readership five years later with the novel,Gentlemen. A sequel to the novel,Gangsters, appeared in 2006. Östergren's works, which also includes acclaimed novels such asDen sista cigaretten (2009, "The last cigarette") and short stories, typically depicts odd characters that leads the narrator into a shadowworld of the official society where its own laws and rules is prevailing.^[5]

As a writer of screenplays and teleplays, he was honored in 1999 whenVeranda för en tenor [Waiting for the Tenor], the screen treatment (which he co-wrote with Lisa Ohlin) of a short story fromMed stövlarna på och andra berättelser, was nominated for theGuldbagge Award for Best Screenplay (Sweden's equivalent of theAcademy Award). He is also one of his country's most highly regarded literary translators, having published aSwedish-language version ofJ. D. Salinger'sThe Catcher in the Rye and also having translated a two-volume edition (issued in September 2008) of the plays ofHenrik Ibsen.^[6]

From 1982 to 1989, Klas Östergren was married to Swedish actress, Pernilla Wallgren, who subsequently continued her career using the name Pernilla Östergren. They became the parents of a daughter, Agnes; and following their divorce and Pernilla's marriage to directorBille August (his daughter’s now ex-stepfather),^[7] she appeared, using her new professional name,Pernilla August, in two films for which Östergren wrote the screenplays. The first, 1996'sJerusalem, adapted fromthe novel bySelma Lagerlöf, was directed by her husband, Bille August, and the other,Offer och gärningsmän, was a 1999miniseries directed for Sweden's national television broadcaster,SVT, byTomas Alfredson. His second and current wife is Cilla, with whom he has three children, Åke, Gösta, and Märta.

The 1980 novelGentlemen was filmed in 2014 by directorMikael Marcimain.^[2] He has been awarded numerous Swedish literary prizes and his works have been translated to at least a dozen languages.^[8]

Östergren succeededUlf Linde inseat 11 of theSwedish Academy on 20 December 2014,^[9] but he announced on 6 April 2018 that he would no longer participate in the Academy's work.^[10] In May 2018, the Swedish Academy announced that Östergren and three other members had been allowed to formally resign.^[11]

Bibliography

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Attila (novel, 1975)
Ismael (novel, 1977)
Fantomerna (novel, 1978)
Gentlemen (Swedish:Gentlemen, novel, 1980) (English translation byTiina Nunnally, 2007)
Giganternas brunn (novella, 1981)
Slangbella (article collection, 1983)
Fattiga riddare och stora svenskar (novel, 1983)
Plåster (novel, 1986)
Hoppets triumf (illustrated byTorsten Jurell, 1986)
Ankare (novel, 1988)
Ge mig lite sodavatten. En opera buffa (1988)
Handelsmän och partisaner (novel, 1991)
Under i september (novel, 1994)
Med stövlarna på och andra berättelser (short story collection, 1997)
Konterfej (novella, 2001)
Tre porträtt (novella collection, 2002)
Östergren om Östergren (withStephen Farran-Lee, 2007)
Gangsters (Swedish:Gangsters, novel, 2005) (English translation byTiina Nunnally, 2009)
The Hurricane Party (Swedish:Orkanpartyt, novel, 2007) (English translation byTiina Nunnally, 2009)
Den sista cigaretten (novel, 2009)
Ravioli (short story, 2013)
Ulf Linde. Svenska Akademiens Inträdestal (2014)
Twist (novel, 2014)
Samlade noveller (collected short stories and novellas, 2015)
I en skog av sumak (novel, 2017)
Hilde (novel, 2019)
Renegater (novel, 2020)
Två pistoler (novel, 2021)
Julrevy i Jonseryd och andra berättelser (short stories, 2021)
Större trygghet aldrig fanns (novel, 2022)