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May 25th, 2023
Stockholm, Sweden
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Things are heating up, and we're not just talking about the weather. With just under three months until the festival kick-off, already more than half the available tickets have been sold! Woohoo! This community is just the absolute best! If you haven't gotten your own tickets yet, we encourage you to get on that soon, so you don't miss out. There is no time like the present.
Now, in this month's news update, we're introducing additional faculty to the festival, intended especially for those that are writing in Swedish, and want the opportunity to explore the local publishing options available to you. So, whether you're writing in English, or Swedish, we've got you covered.
We're also pleased to share an interview of festival founder, Catherine Pettersson, by a multi-year, SWF participant and writer that really knows the value of an extended online community.
And finally, as promised earlier this month, we're ready to announce the winners of the SWF23 First 5 Pages Prize, <insert drum roll> so, without further ado, let's begin with that enormous achievement!
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SWF23 First 5 Pages Prize Winner!
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The First 5 Pages Prize received more than 860 entries from around the world and across multiple genres. We heard such beautiful voices. Experienced such compelling perspectives. It made choosing a handful of winners that much more difficult to do. Thank you to everyone who submitted. Regardless of where you landed, we want you to keep writing, and we hope our contest pushed you to hone your work.
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Now, let's start by announcing our two honorable mentions - C U by Marie Powell in the Young Adult genre and Déjà vu for 2 by Andrew Duff in the Science Fiction genre - these two submissions were wonderful, and really deserve a shout-out! Well done to the both of you!
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Taking 3rd place, David Ashby’s Ebonie Woodhead is NOT a Witch! is a wonderful fantasy genre submission. It's a charming and intriguing start to what promises to be an excellent read, with great characters. From the young protagonist, Sassie Temitope, to the novel’s namesake, Ebonie Woodhead, together with several more mysterious, and rather ominous, figures waiting in the wings. Fantasy enthusiasts are going to quickly become enraptured with this story. Kudos, David!
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Sliding into 2nd place: The Transmigration of Dhani Stone by Adam Honsinger, as a literary fiction submission, was an emotional and intense read. We were swept along in the footsteps and thoughts of Dhani Stone, navigating a traumatic desert war-zone. The contrasts of this multi-faceted protagonist, and the harsh setting built to a dramatic crescendo that left us gasping. Great writing Adam - this was absolutely fantastic!
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And last, but definitely not least, with a literary fiction submission titled Scouse Graffiti, and taking 1st Place as our Grande Prize winner, give it up for Beth L. Thompson!
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Beth's voice and writing style are immediately engaging and totally captivating, as she takes us on a journey through Liverpool. Taking place in 2016, she touched a chord of melancholy in us, as she describes a year punctuated by the loss of musical giants, even as she draws us along the banks of the Mersey river, and into the nightlife of friends, and bandmates. She paints an atmospheric setting so vivid and full of sensory details that it feels like a memory lived, and not just read about, and she does this in a mere five pages! An incredible achievement, and well deserving of the grand prize!
It's fair to say, Scouse Graffiti left us absolutely desperate to read more! Congratulations Beth, and congratulations to all our winners - we hope to see you in Stockholm, August 18-20th!
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As the Grand Prize winner, Beth will receive:
- $1,000 USD
- An all access ticket to SWF23 August 18-20, and related events
- Two nights in a downtown Stockholm boutique hotel during the festival
- A pitch meeting with a relevant agent
- Developmental editing of the manuscript courtesy of Reedsy
Second and Third Places will both receive:
- An all access ticket to SWF23 August 18-20, and related events
- A meeting with a relevant agent
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Now That They've Got Their Tickets, Have You Got Yours?
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Don't miss out on the biggest and best writer's festival in the Nordics. SWF is truly one of a kind, and tickets are limited, as are the Agent/Editor One-on-One sessions. Why wait? Book your festival pass now and lock in this opportunity!
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There is only one way to secure your spot for the workshops, panels, and pitch sessions that you are interested in, and that's to order your tickets now, before they sell out. The festival does have limited capacity seating and some sessions are filling up fast. Buying your main pass today will ensure that you can participate in the sessions that you really want to. Remember, Agent/Editor One-on-One sessions are only available with a main festival pass!
If you're flying in, or arriving from out of town, be sure to check out the useful information on our website, and download the PDF arrival guide, to make the most of your visit to this amazing city.
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Welcome Adamsson Löfgren to the Faculty for SWF23
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For our writers producing work in Swedish, sign-up for a meeting with Adamsson Löfgren, a new publisher on the scene. Sofia and Lukas are Swedish authors-gone-publishers. Their new publishing house, Adamsson Löfgren Bokförlag, operates by the traditional model, but with a modern angle, focusing on transparency and a big digital (and physical) presence.
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"Transparency is our keyword - today it is not only a necessity for effective brand-building and marketing: it ensures fair working environments for our authors, which needs to improve, especially in Scandinavia."
Take the opportunity to meet with them at the festival, and find out how to enter your manuscript into a contest they’re holding in conjunction with the launch of their new company.
Some of Sweden’s biggest literary personalities will be judges in the contest and the winner will receive 100,000 Swedish Kronor as an advance payment on their book. The winning entry will then be published in paperback, audio and e-book forms, as well as promoted through various PR channels.
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John Nixon Interviews SWF Founder and President
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Every superhero has their origin story, and Catherine Pettersson, superhero of SWF, is no different.
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One of our multi-year festival participants, and prolific writer, John Nixon, sat down for a remote interview with Catherine, to find out just what her, or at least the Stockholm Writers Festival, origin story is. John has kindly shared the interview with us, and it serves as a reminder that great things happen when one is passionate in the pursuit of great writing.
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Check out John's interview where he explores with Catherine the importance of having a writing group, writing together, and accepting feedback here!
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What do Past SWF Attendees Have to Say?
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"Stockholm Writer's Festival has a brilliantly contemporary approach, entirely appropriate for its contemporary setting. It's not about coming to listen to a successful author read (and plug) their latest work, it's about providing relevant and accessible information on how, you as a writer, can take an immediate step forward in an industry that has changed dramatically over the last five years."
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"Attending a festival like SWF is as much about community as it is about craft, which I really appreciated.”
"If I hadn’t attended SWF, I wouldn’t have this amazing network of people that I have now. Both the festival itself and the wonderful people I’ve met as a result have inspired me to continue writing and to keep plugging away at my manuscript.”
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"I accidentally stumbled across an advertisement for the “Stockholm Writers Festival 2018”. Being a Swedish person who only writes in English I was so happy to find an event in English, so I booked my tickets right then and there and it was the best spontaneous decision I’ve ever made!"
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Get your tickets now and join the ever-growing crowd of writers who are finding their path to published at this unique festival.
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Help us stay interesting - share your story with us!
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We want to read what you've written, but we also want to hear about you. If you're a past SWF attendee that would like to be featured in an upcoming issue of the newsletter, then please reach out to us by email. We really want to share your story!
Don't forget to also share our newsletter on your favorite social media channels. Let's spread the word, and help all the great writers in our network discover and reach an even wider audience!
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Please note that you can always update your subscriber information with your first and last name, if you haven't already done so, by clicking here. A link will be emailed to you directly.
Additionally, if you no longer wish to receive emails from us about the festival, you can Unsubscribe at any time. These links will always be at the end of our emails for easy access. Of course, we'd be devastated to see you go. We're serious about that - without you and the incredible writer community surrounding this festival, we are nothing. So, please stick around and show us some love!
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