Author: Kristoffer Leandoer
 
  
Kristoffer Leandoer, born in 1962, is a Swedish journalist, editor, translator, highly productive author and poet.

At an early age Kristoffer started to write theatre and literature reviews for one of Sweden’s major newspapers. His debut in 1987, the poetry selection Dykarklocka (Diving Bell), has been followed by a varied bibliography, including a compilation of horror short stories Svarta Speglar (Black Mirrors), the fantasy series Hissvärlden (The Elevator World) and the major work Huset som Proust byggde. 200 års fransk modernism. (The House That Proust Built. 200 Years of French Modernism). Kristoffer is further well known for his essays, where his passion for literature often shines through. He has also made great effort to introduce French literature in Sweden, and has translated several French works into Swedish. Kristoffer has worked as a publisher at the publishing house Albert Bonnier, and for many years he was also chief editor at The Bonnier Literary Magazine. In 2011 Kristoffer’s work of essays “Mask. The literature as hideout”, in which he investigates pseudonyms and other literary identities, was nominated for the prestigious August prize in 2011.

Besides his family, Kristoffer deems poetry as one of the most important things in life. After spending a few years in Vietnam, he now lives and works in Stockholm.


 
Bibliography
2010 Mask. The Literature as hideout
2013 September
It is beautiful, profound, and it is a book you cannot put down. The words float in a pleasant rhythm, in a flow that permeates the whole novel. There is something alluring with this woman’s life, something about it being so short yet so eventful. We all want to live long, but do we not want to die young as well?
- Tidningen Kulturen
…the sharpest writer of his generation.[…] As long as Kristoffer Leandoer is present with his essays, and by his side Horace Engdahl and Aris Fioretos, we may wait a bit further before we emigrate or take refuge to inner exile.
- Upsala Nya Tidning
Tongue in cheek and with the aid of literary history; Kristoffer Leandoer wisely and playfully explains the importance of the name for the identity of a human being. Do not let the simple cover fool you, behind the mask hides a clever text about the truth and lies of literature and reality.
- Motivation of the August prize jury