Ola Norén and Roland Ulvselius are screenwriters and work together almost as if in symbiosis. They first got to know each other at high school in their hometown of Malmö in southern Sweden. Their mutual love of comedy spawned an instant friendship and soon they started a sketch group together. This interest of theirs became the starting point for professional lives as two of Sweden’s most prominent screenwriters, creating both national and international hit series.  

 Gradually, their collaboration has become a way of life. Together, they have made work into something that they love – this fully shines through in their hilariously warm debut novel: DALAI LARSSON (2023).

Ola and Roland have been best friends for almost 30 years. When Roland had his first son, he made him sound so amazing that eventually Ola began to joke that it was almost as if Roland's son was the Dalai Lama reincarnated. The joke took hold. What would happen if your child really was a global spiritual leader reborn? What would you have done? The book DALAI LARSSON came about from such discussions.

Agent Erik Larsson

Becoming a parent for the first time is always a dizzying, life-changing experience. But when Anders and Hanna's son, Roy, happens to be born in the exact same moment that the Dalai Lama dies, their whole lives are turned completely upside down. Buddhist monks insist that their son may be the reincarnated Lama. Traditionally, the search for the new Lama has always taken place in Nepal, Tibet and Northern India, but with modern technology and accurate birth statistics, it is clear that Roy is one of five candidates.

As Anders and Hanna handle the bewildering adaptations of living with a newborn – breastfeeding, changing diapers, sleeplessness – they are simultaneously catapulted into the world-wide search for the new Lama. Anders and Hanna find no support from their own parents. Hanna's father, a retired air force officer, sees it as the family's duty to help the Swedish government, while Anders's new-age mother is overjoyed that her grandson may be the new Lama. 

Before they know it, the new parents are inundated by various groups with a vested interest in their son being named the new Lama: devout Buddhist monks descend on them, an American movie star with his own agenda to take over the Lama's power snakes his way into their lives, and, not least, the government of Sweden. The Ministry of Defense has failed to land an order for the new JAS plane and now the Prime Minister sees it as a fantastic PR opportunity if the next Lama were to be Swedish. Then maybe you can sell fighter planes to the whole of Southeast Asia – hence, they’re spending a lot of resources on this mission. Anders and Hanna are skeptical at first, but they agree to go on a rollicking trip to India to undergo a series of trials to find out if their son really is the new Lama. 

DALAI LARSSON is an absurd, farcical comedy about an ordinary family that gives birth to an extraordinary child. But it is also a heartwarming story of the joys and challenges of early parenthood, a witty metaphor for the universal feeling that one’s child is the most special and unique ever born.