Peter Sandström awarded the Runeberg Prize 2017

This year, the Runeberg Prize jury shortlisted seven novels and one poetry collection for the award. One of them is Peter Sandström’s novel Laudatur. And that one was awarded the Runeberg Prize 2017!

Says the jury:

In Peter Sandström’s (b. 1963) fictional universe, men are not very comfortable in their masculinity. The protagonist of Laudatur is a middle-aged family man who has accepted his place in life and household – not too far from the washing machine – just as the rest of the family is ready to move on. While he waits for them to return, he recalls the long-lost summer in which his father attempted to teach him how to shoot, although none of them really wanted to, and mother struck father across the head with a hoe. In prose both sensitive and concrete, Sandström exposes the touching oddities and peculiar behaviors of his characters, set in a mostly realistic coastal Finnish landscape that at times waxes surreal and eerie.

The winner was announced on 5 February 2017. The Runeberg Prize includes a €10.000 stipend.