Literature

Perhaps best known for its many prominent crime fiction writers, spanning from Henning Mankell, Liza Marklund and Camilla Läckberg, to multimillion best-seller Stieg Larsson, literary Sweden also delivers in other genres. Worth mentioning are notable prose fiction writers such as P O Enquist and Kerstin Ekman, children’s books writers like Barbro Lindgren, Sven Nordqvist and the incomparable Astrid Lindgren, as well as celebrated poets such as the 2011 Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer.

Another Nobel Prize winner is pioneer Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1909. A long list of other Swedish literary geniuses would follow. And every year the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award honours great creators around the world within children’s and young adult literature.

Gender-equal film

At the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, the Swedish Film Institute presented its action plan: ‘50/50 by 2020: Gender equality in film production, both in front of and behind the camera’. The initiative aims to raise awareness about gender equality in film, while highlighting Swedish initiatives. In international comparisons, Sweden has come quite far in gender equality in the film industry. But progress sure remains. There were only six women directing in the 26 Swedish films released in 2020.

In Amanda Kernell's film Charter (2020), Alice complicates a custody battle by taking her children on holiday without their dad's consent.

The Square (2017) won Ruben Östlund two Swedish Guldbagge Awards and a Palme d’Or in Cannes.

A PhD in circus?

Sweden has a higher education programme in circus, on bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level. So, yes, you can get a PhD in circus.