Linnea Axelsson

Linnea Axelsson is a Sámi-Swedish writer, born in the province of North Bothnia in Sweden. In 2009, she earned a Ph.D, in art history from Umeå University. Her book Aednan (Penguin, 2024), was awarded the August Prize and is long-listed for the 2024 National Book Awards. She lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

Excerpt from Aednan by Linnea Axelsson

Translated from Swedish by Saskia Vogel

Vass Valley. Fall 1920
(Aslat the dead)

You left me
on the Swede’s farm

alone and wrapped
in my large kolt

–

I didn’t stay there

–

One fall and one winter
we cried together

Then you joined
the herd and
left

As for me I spread
my kolt into wings
and flew away

blood drained
from my body and
vanished

–

I couldn’t stay

Where I had fallen
never to rise
again

Continue reading from Aednan in Words Without Borders.

Links

• “Out of the Silence Comes the Form: A Conversation with Linnea Axelsson.” The Rumpus. 21 February 2024.
• Exclusive Interview: “Ædnan: An Epic” Author Linnea Axelsson. PaulSemel.com. 1 February 2024.
• Book Review: ‘Aednan: An Epic’ by Linnea Axelsson. The Washington Post. 18 January 2024.