Per Wahlöö

Per

Fredrik Wahlöö (5 August 1926 – 22 June 1975), often identified in English translations as Peter Wahloo – was a Swedish author. He is perhaps best known for collaborative work with his partner Maj Sjöwall on a series of ten novels about the exploits of Martin Beck, a police detective in Stockholm, published between 1965 and 1975. 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. Wahlöö and Sjöwall also wrote novels separately.

Wahlöö was born in Tölö parish, Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland, Sweden. Following secondary school, he worked as a crime reporter from 1946 onwards. After long trips around the world, he returned to Sweden and started working as a journalist again.

He had a thirteen-year relationship with Sjöwall, but they never married, as he already was married. Both writers were Marxists.

Biography

Wahlöö's career in journalism started in 1947 at the Sydsvenskan newspaper in Malmö and continued in 1949 at the new Evening Post, where he was a permanent employee until 1953. He moved on to freelance work in the 1950s, writing theatre reviews and film articles for various newspapers, including newspapers in Norrköping, before moving to Stockholm. By May 1964, Per Wahlöö's journalistic career was said to be complete. Subsequently, he was involved with the New Left journal Tidsignal (Time Signal) (1965–1970), where he was part of the editorial board, which included the writer Kurt Salomonson.