Outstanding crime fiction from
Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden shortlisted for the 2026 Petrona Award
Seven impressive crime novels
from Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have been shortlisted for the 2026
Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The shortlist
is announced today, Thursday 24 September and is as follows:
Snæbjörn Arngrímsson - One True
Word tr. Larissa Kyzer (Pushkin Vertigo, Iceland)
Stella Blómkvist - Murder Tide
tr. Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)
Jón Atli Jónasson - Broken tr.
Quentin Bates (Corylus Books, Iceland)
Ørjan N Karlsson - Into Thin Air
tr. Ian Giles (Orenda Books, Norway)
John Ajvide Lindqvist - The
Writing in the Water tr. Michael Meigs (Amazon Crossing, Sweden)
Satu Rämö - The Grave in the Ice
tr. Kristian London (Zaffre, Finland)
Antti Tuomainen - The Winter Job
tr. David Hackston (Orenda Books, Finland)
The winning title will be announced on 22
October 2026.
The Petrona Award is open to crime fiction
in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia, and
published in the UK in the previous calendar year.
The judges’ comments on the
shortlist:
There were 28 entries for the 2026 Petrona Award from six countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). This year’s shortlist sees Iceland represented with three novels, Finland with two, and Norway and Sweden with one novel each. The judges selected the shortlist from a strong pool of candidates with the seven shortlisted authors including two previous Petrona Award winners: Satu Rämö and Antti Tuomainen.
Independent publishers Corylus Books and Orenda Books both have two entries on the shortlist with Corylus’s both being translated by Quentin Bates. Amazon Crossing, Pushkin Vertigo and Zaffre have one entry apiece.
For Snæbjörn Arngrímsso, Jón Atli Jónasson and Ørjan N Karlsson, this is their first novel in English translation and for John Ajvide Lindqvist this is his first crime novel in translation.
The sub-genres of the shortlisted
novels range from comedy to noir with the police procedural being particularly
well represented this year.
As ever, we are extremely grateful to the translators whose expertise and skill have allowed readers to access these outstanding examples of Scandinavian crime fiction, and to the publishers who continue to champion and support translated fiction.
Further information can be found on the Petrona Award website: http://www.petronaaward.co.uk.
