Carola Hansson

Carola Hansson was born in Stockholm in 1942. She is married and lives in Stockholm, where she has conducted studies in history of art, philosophy, history of literature and the Russian language. Between 1979 and 1988 she worked as a playwright for the Swedish Television.

Carola Hansson made her literary debut in 1983 with the novel Det drömda barnet/The Dreamt Child. Her breakthrough came in 1994 with the novel Andrej, about one of Leo Tolstoy’s sons. Steinhof, published in 1997, also found favour with both critics and public. Both Andrej and A Complaisant Man were shortlisted for the August Prize. Today, Carola Hansson is regarded as one of Sweden’s most important female writers.

Her novel, Masja, about the life of the daughter of Lev Tolstoy, is a powerful story of a woman’s fate and touches issues that are highly topical today. The novel is carried by a language that is clear and transparent, the sentences are long and windingrhythmic and varied. To read Masja is a beautiful experience. It is a rich and magnificent novel and it is praised in media with reviews out of this world.

She has been honored with several awards, among them The Bonnier Prize, Signe Ekblad-Eldh Award, Swedish Radio Novel Prize, Samfundet De Nios Grand Prize and more. Masja was as well shortlisted for the prestigious August Prize, and Carola has also been given the Selma Lagerlöf Literary Prize.

She is published in 11 countries, among others Russia, Germany, Holland, China, Finland, USA…