ANDREV WALDEN (born 1976) is a Swedish author, journalist, illustrator, and columnist, raised in Norrköping and now based in Stockholm, where he lives with his family.

With a long background in Swedish media, Walden has developed a distinctive voice characterized by irony and a sharp eye for everyday human contradictions. In 2017, he became the first columnist ever to be nominated for the prestigious Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism in the category Storyteller of the Year. He has also worked as an editor and host for SVT’s television series Sociala monster, as well as an editor on Filip and Fredrik’s TV program Breaking News.

Walden made his literary debut with Ditt lilla mörker i ljuset (2018), a collection of opinion pieces addressing subjects ranging from life as a parent of young children to space and the difficulty of saying no. He reached a wide literary audience with his acclaimed debut novel Jävla karlar (Bloody Awful in Different Ways) (2023), a memoir-like exploration of childhood, masculinity, and the lasting effects of absent or unreliable father figures. Praised for its clarity, warmth, humor, and unsentimental honesty, the novel became a bestseller, won the August Prize in 2023, and established Walden as one of Sweden’s most compelling contemporary writers.

Agent Moa Alfvén

PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2025, bokförlaget polaris
GENRE essay, non-fiction
PAGES 336

ALL RIGHTS AVAILABLE

Andrev Walden won the August Prize in 2023 for his debut novel Jävla karlar (Bloody Awful in Different Ways), but his unique language has been around for much longer than that.

As a columnist and essayist, he has been nominated for the Grand Prize for Journalism for his style and unexpected perspectives on the human condition.

Here he collects his best texts from Dagens Nyheter from 2019–2023 in a volume that covers everything from the dull sound of a ten-krona coin in a vacuum cleaner to the forbidden dream of finding a corpse. And an unusually angry old man.

PUBLISHED AUGUST 2023, bokförlaget polaris
GENRE FICTION
PAGES 384

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FILM & TV-RIGHTS: B-REEL FILMS

Winner of the August Prize 2023

Christmas 1983. A two-storey house in the woods outside Norrköping is shaken by a violent argument, and a secret slips out of a mother's mouth. A seven-year-old boy named Andrev learns that his father is not his father. His real father lives in a faraway country and has hair down to his shoulders. “Like an Indian,” says his mother, gesturing towards her elbow so that the boy will understand. The boy is thrilled because it's the best thing he's ever heard. He feels like he's the boy in a book about a boy who finds out that his father is the king of a magical land and that a spirit will come to take him there. But no spirits come, only new fathers who are not his.

Andrev Walden makes his debut with a wild story about growing up in the aftermath of the 1968 movement, about mums standing under the kitchen fan muttering “bloody men”, about how love begins and ends, about a scalped hamster, but above all about men. You learn a lot about this peculiar species when you have seven dads in seven years.

REVIEWS

“Outstanding literature.”
Sydsvenskan

“Andrev Walden has written a classic.”
Kulturnytt

“A remarkable achievement, Jävla karlar (Bloody Awful in Different Ways) is a debut that bodes very well.”
SvD

“Walden impresses greatly with his thoughtful storytelling and unique filter on reality.”
Göteborgs-Posten

“If there is such a thing as absolute literary ear, Andrev Walden has it, because throughout the book he hits every note right, and that is something very unusual.”
BTJ

“A small, multifaceted gem.”
Borås Tidning

“Walden makes both trivialities and atrocities sparkle.”
Aftonbladet

PUBLISHED may 2019, bokförlaget polaris
GENRE essay, non-fiction
PAGES 384

ALL RIGHTS AVAILABLE

In 2015, Andrev Walden left a low-key job as an art director and started writing – three years later, he's seen by many as the country's best columnist, and in autumn 2017, he was also the first to be nominated for the Stora Journalistpriset (Grand Journalism Award) for his columns. “Because he finds everyday drama in the big issues and makes us laugh as we see the world, our families and ourselves in a new and slightly wiser light,” was the jury's reasoning, words that also encapsulate the selection in this collection of his best texts (and cartoons!) about early childhood, space and the end of the world.

REVIEWS

“Whether he writes about space, racism, life with small children or friendship, he manages to put into words thoughts we didn't even know we had.”
Aftonbladet

“Breathtaking pieces that hit the mark.”
DN

“In Ditt lilla mörker i ljuset (Your Little Darkness in the Light), there are recognisable laughs for busy parents, but also some welcome elements of world anxiety and existential vertigo.”
Journalisten

“Sweden's best columnist has released the collection Ditt lilla mörker i ljuset (Your Little Darkness in the Light). A must for anyone who likes space and/or has young children. Or just wants to enjoy a master of language.”
Katrineholmskuriren

“Andrev Walden is one of the country's most fascinating writers.”
Göteborgs-Posten