Swedish author Kerstin Ekman started writing detective novels, then moved on to more psychological and social themes. In September 2009 she released her latest novel Mordets praktik. Sweden.se asked Ekman a few questions.
Kerstin Ekman. Photo: Pieter ten Hoopen
1. What made you start writing?
“I told stories when I was a child, and then I began to write them down. I can’t remember exactly when, but I know that I started already when I was very young.”
2. How do you feel about the Swedish language?
“It’s a love affair. I’m very happy with my small books and the book I’ve written now, Mordets Praktik (Practice of a Murder, only in Swedish so far), because in those books I think the language is more interesting and tighter. But I have to tell big stories, too, that include many people.”
3. Nature plays a special role in many of your books — how would you describe your relation to nature?
“I live in a small village and I have been living in two other small villages far up north in Sweden. Very close to the forest, the mountains, the waters. They have had a great impact on me, melting into my language.”
4. Name a Swedish writer who has influenced you.
“In Mordets Praktik I have some sort of colloquium with Hjalmar Söderberg (a Swedish author of the beginning of the 20th century, editor’s note) and his book Doktor Glas (Doctor Glas). It’s about finding out how to kill a man without leaving traces.
“Another author who influenced my writing is Eyvind Johnson. He wrote about Krilon, a resistance man in Sweden in the 1940s. In my book Gör mig levande igen (Bring Me Back to Life, only in Swedish so far) I sort of speak to and with and contra this book.
“There are several modern Swedish writers I like, too. I have always read a lot. There are no good writers who are not great readers. You have to read if you write.”
5. What do you like most about Sweden?
“I like the language. And the landscape, especially up north, I like the waters and the forest. I’ve written a book about the forest. And for me, this is a love story, my love story.”
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