Maj Sjöwall
Swedish author and translator (1935–2020)
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Key Takeaways
- Maj Sjöwall ( Swedish pronunciation: [maj ˈɧø̂ːval] ; 25 September 1935 – 29 April 2020) was a Swedish author and translator.
- She wrote these novels in collaborative work with her partner Per Wahlöö.
- After completing school, Sjöwall was employed at Åhlén & Åkerlunds publishers between 1954 and 1959; Wahlström & Widstrands publishers between 1959 and 1961; and then Esselte publishers between 1961 and 1963.
- They also wrote several novels separately.
- This novel was also adapted into the film The Laughing Policeman , starring Walter Matthau.
Maj Sjöwall (Swedish pronunciation: [maj ˈɧø̂ːval]; 25 September 1935 – 29 April 2020) was a Swedish author and translator. She is best known for her novels about the police detective Martin Beck. She wrote these novels in collaborative work with her partner Per Wahlöö.
Biography
Maj Sjöwall was the daughter of Margit Trobäck and CEO Will Sjöwall.
After completing school, Sjöwall was employed at Åhlén & Åkerlunds publishers between 1954 and 1959; Wahlström & Widstrands publishers between 1959 and 1961; and then Esselte publishers between 1961 and 1963.
Sjöwall was best known for the collaborative work with her partner Per Wahlöö on a series of ten novels about the exploits of Martin Beck, a police detective in Stockholm. They also wrote several novels separately. The fourth of the Beck novels, Den skrattande polisen, was published in 1968; a translation of this novel, The Laughing Policeman, won an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America in 1971. This novel was also adapted into the film The Laughing Policeman, starring Walter Matthau. In 2013, Sjöwall received a fifth Lenin Award.
After the death of Wahlöö, Sjöwall continued working as a translator, writing columns for magazines and as an author. With Danish author Bjarne Nielsen, she published the novel Dansk Intermezzo in 1989. In 1990, she and author Tomas Ross published the thriller Kvinnan som liknade Greta Garbo.
Personal life
Sjöwall married her first husband, magazine editor Gunnar Isaksson, in 1955, and they divorced in 1958. She married again in 1959 to photographer Hans J. Flodquist; they divorced in 1962.
Sjöwall had a 13-year relationship with Wahlöö, which lasted until his death in 1975.
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