![]() ![]() The Swedish version of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists is distributed freely to high school students across the country. This cannot be argued and I love my adopted home for this. That report was essentially glossed over here. The UN issued an official report last year, urging Sweden to work on its systemic racism. Two things can always be true: You can be a world leader when it comes to certain issues and still have a lot of work to do in your own backyard.įor you to work on issues, you actually have to publicly acknowledge them. So, many people choose to silence their own voices and keep their lived stories untold, or risk exclusion from society.īeijing accuses Sweden of racism amid escalating diplomatic row Unfortunately here, any slight whiff of perceived criticism is considered an affront to the glass paradise that Sweden has built around its image. We offer each other constructive feedback because we want each other to grow into better versions of ourselves. Similar to every single character in my book, we’re all multi-dimensional, richly diverse, complex and messy human beings. This unflinching need to always remain perfect and flawless is what continues to add to the tensions between various factions within society and an increasingly confusing global image. I’ve also delved deep into understanding the Swedish psyche in my book LAGOM, which is translated into 18 foreign language editions, ironically except into Swedish, but I’m not surprised. Part of my five paragraph response to them was: Which Swedish audience? White Swedes or non-white Swedes?Īlready the most invisible character within society in the book, in essence, they wanted me to minimize her existence for their comfort, while discounting the experiences and feelings of the marginalized.Īs a travel writer and photographer, I regularly extol Sweden’s cultural and panoramic beauty I love so much through words and photography for various publications. The publisher was concerned her story would make the Swedish audience uncomfortable. Her story was inspired by real people I met while spending two years visiting a now-closed asylum center as a photographer, listening to their stories, feeling their fear, pain, hopes, and dreams. While they appreciated my storytelling skills and insight as an “outsider” into Swedish society, they wanted me to cut out scenes from my character Muna’s story. The most insightful answer came in a wordier response from one of the country’s largest publishers. We were either met with cold silence or one-liner, not for us, responses. That was the question I pondered for months when we tried to sell the book. My answer is always met with surprise when I share that a book written by a naturalized Swede about Black women and Swedes set in Sweden, has yet to be translated into Swedish. “So, how has this been received in Sweden?”It doesn’t take long before this question pops up during any interview. From those who feel completely seen and heard, to those who refuse to accept a more nuanced picture of a country they idolize. We have four global publishers, and the German edition will be published later this year.Īs with anything raw and real, the response to my book has been wide ranging. While the journey to publication was challenging after so many rejections, we knew once we got past the industry gatekeepers, the book would resonate fully because it is raw, real, and transparent.įrom being displayed on Times Square as a Good Morning America Buzz Pick and being named by The Independent UK as the most thought-provoking book by a Black author to being an Amazon Editors Pick and Apple Books Pick, amongst other memorable moments. The cover of Lola Akinmade Åkerström's novel, "In Every Mirror She's Black". ![]()
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