Ellen Strömberg has been awarded the Grandberg-Sumelius Prize for No Beginning No End by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland.
More happy news: author Ellen Strömberg has been awarded the Grandberg-Sumelius Prize by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland for her latest novel, No Beginning No End. The jury have motivated their choice so:
“In the borderland between reality and the paranormal Strömberg puts together an elegant dramatic arc about boyhood, friendship, and the excitement of first love. Thematic depth of otherness, body shame, and grief are created with narrative lightness. The summer adventure in the archipelago stimulates the desire to read for both young and adult readers”.
In No Beginning No End Benjamin is fourteen and he’s been dragged along on his father’s work trip to the coast, where a team of archeologists is digging up local artefacts. It is their first summer after Benjamin’s mother’s death, and Benjamin is sad and lonely, until he meets Tristan Sandvik, a local and mysterious boy.
The two quickly develop a strong bond, but soon more mysteries pop up: what was the real purpose of the stone-lined labyrinths found on the island where Dad is researching? Why do the townspeople dislike Tristan and his family so much? And why does a portrait strikingly resembling Tristan date back to the 1800s?
Strömberg’s novel is a strong return to YA literature after the success of We’ll Just Ride Past, which won the August Prize in 2022 and has already travelled to six territories. This time, the author explores the themes of first love, self-acceptance, and loss in a humorous style and on the atmospheric background of a Nordic summer with touches of fantasy. In Finland Ellen Strömberg’s works are published by Schildts & Söderströms.
Warm congratulations to the author!