Two authors who live and create in separate corners of the world, one in Slovenia, the other in Sweden, will present their work and their views on the mentality of people and the cruel realities we are faced with in our world. The topics will range from anger to current issues regarding Europe and, last but not least, new waves of literature in Europe and a new Europe depicted in literature.
Mats Kolmisoppi was born in 1976 in Uddevalla, Sweden, to a Norwegian mother and Finnish father and grew up between Norway and Sweden. He made his literary debut in 2001 with a short story collection entitled Jag menar nu (I mean now), for which he received a nomination for best literary debut of the year. The collection was followed by the novels Ryttlarna (The Hovers) and Bryssel (Brussels, parts of the novel were published in Slovenian translation at Air Beletrina) and the 2012 collection of short stories Undantagen (Exempt/Exceptions), which received outstanding critical reviews. The characters in the stories openly proclaim their anger and frustrations with the situation in the world). Kolmisoppi is also active as a literature and film critic. ”The world produces hatred and anger by injustice. It is a surprise that we’re not witnessing more people losing their grip on life, going out in the streets throwing paving stones, taking part in riots or simply collapsing”, says the Swedish author Mats Kolmisoppi.
Goran Vojnović, born in 1980 in Ljubljana, is a film and TV director and screenwriter. He directed three short films (Fužine zakon; Sezona 90/91; Moj sin, seksualni manijak) and, in collaboration with Marko Šantić, wrote the screenplay for the film Sretan put Nedine. The film received the Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Film and a nomination by the European Film Academy. In 2010, Vojnović wrote the screenplay and directed his first feature film Piran/Pirano, which won three Vesna Awards at the Slovene Film Festival, including the award for best screenplay. Vojnović is a prolific film publicist, contributing to numerous film magazines and the daily newspaper Dnevnik, and a columnist for the literary web portal www.airbeletrina.si and the student magazine Element. He made his literary debut with the infamous novel Čefurji raus! which featured a fresh and humour-filled insight into the life of immigrants from former Yugoslavia in Slovenia. At the end of 2011, Vojnović published the novel Jugoslavija, moja dežela which reached bestseller ranks among Slovene readers, despite the grave contents dealing with the consequences of the last war in the Balkans and the quest for a father gone missing.
The discussion will be hosted by Per Bergström of the Swedish publishing house Rámus, which is set to publish the Swedish translation of Vojnović’s novel Čefurji raus! in this year.