Susanna Alakoski

Susanna Alakoski
Born	(1962-05-16) May 16, 1962 Vaasa, Finland
Occupation	novelist
Period	2006–
Notable works	Svinalängorna
Spouse	Mats Söderlund (1990–present)
Children	Jaana-Kristina Nilas Runa
Website
susannaalakoski.se

Jaana Susanna Emilia Alakoski Söderlund, née Alakoski, (born 16 May 1962 in Vaasa, Finland) is a Swedish-Finnish author and lecturer. She won the August Prize in 2006 for the novel Svinalängorna.^[1] Svinalängorna was filmed in 2010 as Beyond. She researches gender issues and works as a social worker.

Biography

Alakoski was born in 1962 in Vaasa, Finland and spent her early life in the Fridhem area in Ystad, Sweden.^[2] She studied to become a socionom and finished her degree at the age of 23.^[3] In 1988, she studied writing at Skurups folkhögskola.^[4] Between 1995 and 2003, she worked as a press secretary for the Vänsterpartiet politician Gudrun Schyman.^[5]

In 2006, she released her debut novel Svinalängorna. It took the August Prize in 2006. The novel sold over 400,000 copies in Sweden and it has been made into a feature film with the English title of Beyond.^[6]

In 2010, she released her second novel, Håpas du trifs bra i fengelset.^[7] In 2011, she released her first children's novel, Dagens Harri, which were followed by Guldfisken in 2012 and Dagens skräckis in 2013.^[8] She published a diary, Oktober i Fattigsverige in 2012.^[9]

She has also been editor for the anthologies Tala om klass, Lyckliga slut, and Fejkad orgasm^[10]

Personal life

She is married to Mats Söderlund since 1990.^[11] They have three children, Jaana-Kristina, Nilas, Runa.^[12] She now (2014) lives in Stockholm.

Bibliography

• Svinalängorna (2006)
• Håpas du trifs bra i fengelset (2010)
• Dagens Harri (2011)
• Guldfisken (2012)
• Oktober i Fattigsverige (2012)
• Dagens skräckis (2013)

References