Per Olov Enquist is one of these great European authors you want to welcome at least once. This year we finally can. On the occasion of the release of his autobiographical novel Another Kind of Life he will talk about his oeuvre and career, in which the early success of his work - his novels were translated in more than 25 languages - wasn't paralleled with his personal luck. He even had to leave Sweden, after his marriage had failed and he was heavily criticised for political statements. A severe alcohol problem almost got the better of him, but on his return to Sweden his luck changed and he wrote some of his most loved historical novels, among them The Story of Blanche and Marie and The Visit of the Royal Physician.

photo © Ulla Montan

About Another Kind of Life:

• "In P.O. Enquist's autobiography, Ett annat liv, the novelist, the documentalist and the man Enquist meet together. The result is a cathedral for empathy."   Dagens Nyheter
• "Ett annat liv is a deeply impressive book. It is strictly restrained and musically flowing, in perfect musical balance with its subject, written in a rhythmic manner, darkly serious, but also ruggedly humorous. Despite a bubbling excess of events, the direction is clear – down into the darkness, in towards the core."   Expressen
• "There are sections in P.O. Enquist's autobiographical book, Ett annat liv, that deserve to become classic in Swedish literature, for example when the boy is forced to make up some sins for the week's obligatory confession. /.../ Most of all it is like a bildungsroman in three acts, written with Enquist's usual brilliant story-telling technique and feeling for drama."  Svenska Dagbladet
• "The reader can only thank the author and enjoy this – there are 529 pages in the book and every page counts. Since all the advance talk about the book has mainly concerned its dark sides, there are good reasons to point out that this is often an extremely funny book."   Aftonbladet