Stieg Larsson: Difference between revisions
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* [http://www.girlwhoplayedwithfire.co.uk Website for Stieg Larsson's ''The Girl Who Played with Fire''] (en) |
* [http://www.girlwhoplayedwithfire.co.uk Website for Stieg Larsson's ''The Girl Who Played with Fire''] (en) |
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* [http://www.spanningzoeker.nl/larsson/ Dutch fansite with covers and more] (du) |
* [http://www.spanningzoeker.nl/larsson/ Dutch fansite with covers and more] (du) |
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**[http://milleniumtrilogy.wikia.com/wiki/Millenium_Trilogy_Wiki/ Millennium Trilogy Wiki] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsson, Stieg}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsson, Stieg}} |
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Revision as of 13:26, 21 May 2009
Stieg Larsson | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Journalist, Novelist |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Genre | Crime fiction Thriller |
| Notable works | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire |
| Website | |
| http://www.stieglarsson.se/ | |
Stieg Larsson (15 August 1954 - 9 November 2004) was a Swedish journalist and writer, active in communist politics. He was born in Skelleftehamn outside Skellefteå, Sweden as Karl Stig-Erland Larsson. He is notable for his authorship of the Millennium series of crime novels which are being successfully published posthumously.
During 2008, he was the second best selling author of the world[citation needed], outmustered only by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini.
Life and career
The activist and journalist
Larsson was initially a political activist for the Kommunistiska Arbetareförbundet (Communist Workers League), a photographer, and one of Sweden's leading science fiction fans. In politics he was the editor of the Swedish Trotskyist journal Fjärde internationalen. As a science fiction fan, he was co-editor or editor of several fanzines, including Sfären, Fijagh! and others; in 1978-1979 he was President of the largest Swedish science fiction fan club, Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction (SFSF).
Larsson worked as a graphic designer at the largest Swedish news agency, Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (TT) between 1977 and 1999. [1]
His political convictions, as well as his journalistic experiences, led him to found the Swedish Expo Foundation, similar to the British Searchlight Foundation, established to "expose racist and totalitarian organisations and tendencies"[citation needed]; he also became the editor of the foundation's magazine Expo. Larsson quickly became instrumental in documenting and exposing Swedish extreme right and racist organisations; he was an influential debater, lecturer and self-proclaimed "expert" on the subject, allegedly living for years under death threats from his political enemies[citation needed].
Death
Larsson died in Stockholm at the age of 50 of a massive heart attack. Rumours that his death was in some way suspicious, because of death threats received as editor of Expo, have been denied.[2]
In May 2008 it was announced that Larsson's 1977 will, found soon after his death, declared his wish to leave his assets to the Umeå branch of the Communist Workers League (now the Socialist Party). As the will was unwitnessed, it was not valid under Swedish law, with the result that all of Larsson's estate, including future royalties from book sales, went to his father and brother.[3][4] His long term partner Eva Gabrielsson[5], who found his will, has no legal right to the inheritance, sparking controversy and exposing what many media considered a flaw in Swedish inheritance legislation[citation needed]. At the 2009 Galaxy Book Awards he won an award for The Books Direct Crime Thriller of The Year, with his best selling novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The novelist
When he died Larsson left the manuscripts of three completed but unpublished novels in a series. He wrote them for his own pleasure after returning home from his job in the evening, making no attempt to get them published until shortly before his death. The first of these novels was published in Sweden in 2005 as Män som hatar kvinnor, and in English in the UK in January 2008, and in the USA in September 2008, as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was awarded the prestigious Glass Key award as the best Nordic crime novel in 2005. His second novel, Flickan som lekte med elden (The Girl Who Played with Fire), received the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award in 2006. At his death, as well as the third completed novel, he left the unfinished manuscript of part of the fourth novel as well as synopses of the fifth and sixth in the series which was intended to contain an eventual total of ten books.
A television series based on the three completed books is in production by Yellow Bird Films of Ystad. Each book will be covered in two episodes (making a total of six 90-minute episodes). The first two episodes were released as a motion picture in February 2009, while the subsequent episodes will be released direcly on DVD in December 2009. The series will be broadcast on Swedish television during 2010.[6]
Bibliography
Articles
- Stieg Larsson, Anna-Lena Lodenius: "Extremhögern", Stockholm, 1991
- Stieg Larsson, Mikael Ekman: "Sverigedemokraterna: den nationella rörelsen", Stockholm, 2001
- Stieg Larsson, Cecilia Englund: "Debatten om hedersmord: feminism eller rasism", Stockholm, 2004
- Richard Slätt, Maria Blomquist, Stieg Larsson, David Lagerlöf m.fl.: "Sverigedemokraterna från insidan", 2004
Novels
The Millennium series (all titles by April, 2008, under contract in more than 25 countries):
- Män som hatar kvinnor, 2005. English translation by Reg Keeland under the title The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, January 2008
- Flickan som lekte med elden, 2006. English translation by Reg Keeland under the title The Girl Who Played with Fire, January 2009
- Luftslottet som sprängdes, 2007. English translation by Reg Keeland under the title The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, September 2009
Periodicals edited
- Svartvitt med Expo, 1999-2002
- Expo, 2002-2004
Awards
- 2006 - Glass Key award, Män som hatar kvinnor
- 2006 - Best Swedish Crime Novel Award, Flickan som lekte med elden
- 2008 - Glass Key award, Luftslottet som sprängdes
- 2008 - ITV3 Crime Thriller Award for International Author of the Year, UK, for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.[7]
- 2008 - Exclusive Books Boeke Prize, South Africa, for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- 2009 - Galaxy British Book Awards, Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year, UK, for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
References
- ^ http://www.stieglarsson.com/Life-and-work
- ^ Forshaw, Barry. (23 August 2008). Crime writer taken too soon. TimesOnLine.[1]
- ^ SvD. (28 May 2008). Stieg Larssons testamente hittat.[2]
- ^ Cantwell, Oisin. (28 May 2008). Ville ge arvet till lokalparti. Aftonbladet.[3]
- ^ http://www.supporteva.com/us/ Website supporting Eva Gabrielsson's position.
- ^ Kerstin Larsson. "Mångmiljonär efter sin död", Aftonbladet 14 januari 2007, s. 18-19.[4]
- ^ Allen, Katie (2008-10-06). "Rankin and P D James pick up ITV3 awards". theBookseller.com. Retrieved 2008-10-06.