Sara Stridsberg

Sara Brita Stridsberg (born 29 August 1972) is a Swedish author and playwright. Her first novel, Happy Sally, was about Sally Bauer, who in 1939 had become the first Scandinavian woman to swim the English Channel.

Born

Sara Brita Stridsberg

(1972-08-29) 29 August 1972 (age 53)

Solna, Sweden

Period1999–

Notable worksDrömfakulteten
Darling River
Beckomberga. Ode till min familj.

Notable awardsNordic Council Literature Prize (2007)
European Union Prize for Literature (2015)

Quick facts Born, Period ...

Sara Stridsberg
Stridsberg in 2018
Born	Sara Brita Stridsberg (1972-08-29) 29 August 1972 (age 53) Solna, Sweden
Period	1999–
Notable works	Drömfakulteten Darling River Beckomberga. Ode till min familj.
Notable awards	Nordic Council Literature Prize (2007) European Union Prize for Literature (2015)
Member of the Swedish Academy (Seat No. 13)
In office 20 December 2016 – 7 May 2018
Preceded by	Gunnel Vallquist
Succeeded by	Anne Swärd

Close

Her big international breakthrough came with the publication of the novel The Faculty of Dreams/Valerie in 2006 . The novel received the Nordic Council Award in 2007, and was nominated to the Man Booker award when published 2019 in the UK and US. Her novels are today translated into 25 languages.

In 2007, she was awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize for her novel Drömfakulteten (Valerie, or The Faculty of Dreams),^[1] which is her second novel and a fictitious story about Valerie Solanas, who wrote the SCUM Manifesto, which Stridsberg has translated into Swedish. The English translation by Deborah Bragan-Turner was longlisted for the 2019 International Booker Prize.^[2] Other acclaimed novels are Beckomberga/The Gravity of Love 2014 , Darling River 2010, Antarctica of Love 2018 (longlisted for the Dublin Award 2023, longlisted for the National Translation Award in Prose 2023), Farewell to Panic Beach 2024.

She has been awarded many literature prizes, among them the Nordic Council Prize, the European Union Prize for Literature, the Dobloug Prize, De Nios Winter Prize and De Nios , the Selma Lagerlöf Prize and has been nominated for the August Prize five times.

Svenska Dagbladet called Stridsberg "one of our foremost nature poets" and considered her among the best in contemporary Swedish literature while noting that Stridsberg's novels are always discomforting to read.^[3]

In 2016, Stridsberg was elected to the 13th chair on the Swedish Academy and the Nobel Committee previously occupied by Gunnel Vallquist.^[4] She was inducted into the Academy on 20 December 2016.^[5] In connection with the Academy's crisis in the wake of #MeToo, she requested to resign, which was granted on May 7, 2018.^[6]

Sara Stridsberg is also active as a playwright, with plays such as Medealand, Dissecting a Snowfall, The Art of Falling, Wounded Angel, Beckomberga, American hotel, Valerie Jean Solanas will be president in America, A Grave for Two – Antigone in Kolonos and Vertigo. Her plays have often had their world premieres at The Royal Theatre in Stockholm.