Äntligen Kulturnatt!!
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Handling: "Spänning, sex och skolpolitik. Konspirationsteorier, oförklarliga försvinnanden och långsökta fågelmetaforer. Historiegeneratorn har allt: Lärarinnor som går ut i krig för att skapa en god klassrumsmiljö, berättelser som får läsare att ta ut skilsmässa och algoritmer som genererar bästsäljande böcker. Ja, till och med fredagsmys och en och annan kränkt liten gubbe. I detta referat från den märkliga plats vi kallar verkligheten, i sex sammanflätade historier, serveras en berättelsebuffé med smak av skratt, spänning, skönhet och sorg. En måltid vi äter så gott som varje dag utan att ens tänka på vad det är vi egentligen stoppar i oss."
Culture Night...
...turned out to be a truly wonderful September day with bright sunshine and crisp blue skies.
After a while, it got so hot that my face turned the same colour as my jumper, but I had such a great time. I had the opportunity to reconnect with old writer colleagues, talk to interested people, and simply soak up the flow of different personalities passing by us.
Colour and personal style give me energy!
Even the dogs were alert.
Fredrik, who had had a cold for a long time, sat down on a chair by the wall of the house and took the opportunity to sunbathe while people came and went at the book table.
We also had a nice visit from Ingela, who helped me sell books. It's extra fun because she has read all three and liked them!
Last year I sold upwards of fifty books, but this year I managed to sell the thirty books we brought with us to the farm, which feels great! I don't sell to get rich, but for the joy of storytelling.
I wish everyone who bought them a wonderful reading experience.
Danny Wattin, one of the organisers of the event during Culture Night, had managed to persuade his son to sell wood-fired pizzas at the farm, which was a new addition. It turned out that the tricycle on which the wood-fired oven was mounted had been transported here all the way from Italy.
Danny has written several books and plays for Uppsala City Theatre, not least Josefin, which has received excellent reviews.
I received a copy of his short story Historiegeneratorn (The History Generator), which is now on my reading list... I mean “school politics... suspense...” – sounds like me:
Plot: "Suspense, sex and school politics. Conspiracy theories, unexplained disappearances and far-fetched bird metaphors. Historiegeneratorn has it all: teachers who go to war to create a good classroom environment, stories that make readers want to get divorced and algorithms that generate best-selling books. Yes, even Friday cosiness and the occasional offended little man. In this report from the strange place we call reality, in six intertwined stories, a narrative buffet is served with a taste of laughter, excitement, beauty and sorrow. A meal we eat almost every day without even thinking about what we are actually putting into our bodies."
For the second year in a row, I stood next to the phenomenal children's and young adult author Dan Larsson from Enköping. I really like his book display – it makes all his books look like tempting sweets.
His first children's book was published in 1982 and since then he has published over thirty books, which is not bad, and several of the books have been translated into Polish and Danish.
My sister's children love his books!
One couple even sold second-hand books to help build libraries in Ukraine and thereby increase the desire to read. I was happy to see that they had many visitors during the day.
At one of the book tables stood Michael Wainwright and Kristina Tilvemo, who published Judaskyssen, an exciting crime novel that attracted many customers!
Plot: "Whether a person is executed with a bullet to the head on a dark street corner, found lifeless after eleven hours in an unsupervised cleaning closet in the emergency room, or dies alone with bedsores in an understaffed nursing home, there is someone behind it. Someone who gave the order. Someone who bears responsibility. New York, summer 2013. With a bold intervention, young Swedish doctor Peter Larsson saves the life of a seriously injured car driver. Six months later, Peter – now working at Malmö Hospital – sees a high school student brutally shot down on the street. Once again, he tries to save a human life. The two events form the prelude to a thrilling crime drama in which Peter and his girlfriend Erika are drawn into a violent world marked by unexpected twists, intense psychological stress and sharp contrasts between Malmö's tough street life and Lund's academic elegance. Judaskyssen builds on the strong tradition of politically engaged Scandinavian crime literature with a clear social and political agenda. All patient cases are based on real events. This is the Print on Demand edition. About the authors: Kristina and Michael are old colleagues who decided to write a book together, as they are both passionate about raising awareness of the increasing street violence and problems in healthcare. Kristina is a journalist and Michael works as an English copywriter. He was born in England, but they now both live in Uppsala.
It was also nice to see several Lava colleagues there. Not least Maria Nordengren, who sold her debut novel, which sounded enticing.
Plot: "Peter has just bought his dream house, or so he thinks. But as soon as he moves in, problems arise, and the dream quickly turns into a nightmare. With incompetent tradesmen, eccentric neighbours and an unexpected find in the garden, life is not as idyllic as he had hoped. At the same time, he is struggling with problems at work, a complicated family situation and missing his daughter. How much bad luck can one person have, and is it possible to create a new life despite all the challenges?
‘Villaliv’ is a both comical and moving story about starting over, dealing with everyday problems and searching for meaning when life takes unexpected turns.
Maria Nordengren is a trained economist with experience in finance, IT, leadership and organisational development. ‘Villaliv’ is her debut novel.
Mikael Propst was also selling books that day, and after meeting him several years in a row, it feels a bit like seeing an old colleague again.
I am eager to read his book Rättvisa skipas (Lava):
Plot: "Three men take the law into their own hands. Seved, Stefan and Raimond want to bring justice where society has failed to give victims of crime redress. But this self-imposed task is not without danger for them.
Who is really good and who is evil when other forces take over society's tasks, when personal trauma is the driving force in a futile struggle for revenge, when friends and enemies are difficult to recognise?
At the same time, the two Uppsala police officers Petter and Ewa are fighting an uneven battle against gang crime. Drugs are flowing freely, and the many fatal shootings and explosions are terrorising the Swedish population."
Mikael Jansson was also there, selling his debut novel entitled Ett liv under radarn (A Life Under the Radar), published by Vulkan Förlag, a subsidiary of Lava.
Plot: ‘Georg William Harrysson Wiman was born on 8 January 1935 in a small industrial town in Bergslagen – by pure coincidence on the same day and year as Elvis Presley. Now he is 75 years old and ill, living in a dreary nursing home. He tells the story of his life to Nathalie, a teenage wage-subsidised worker at the ’home". She is his confidante – even if she doesn't always follow all of the old man's stories.
Georg has certainly had a busy life: among other things, he has been a farmhand for Frank Sinatra, he has secretly accompanied Elvis Presley, and he has worked incognito as a substitute drummer for The Beatles and bassist for The Rolling Stones. He has led a Christian pop band, a psychedelic prog band, the show band BABA and the dance band Bill Georgs.
In addition, he has occasionally devoted himself to bringing joy to lonely women seeking a moment of physical intimacy, often in exchange for payment.
And he has always lived a life under the radar."
Books and stories about and for people are one of the things that enrich life, and it felt nice to spend an afternoon surrounded by books and people who seem to love stories as much as I do.
In the shadow of war and hatred, art and creativity are a counterbalance.
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