This edition of the Göteborg Book Fair – the largest literary festival in Scandinavia and the second largest book fair in Europe after the Frankfurt Book Fair – has been quite special for me, as two of the books I have been working on during the first half of 2017 were released during the exhibition.
The first one is Från Döda fallet till Ales stenar – Platser med (spök)historia (From The Dead Fall to Ale’s stones – places with a (ghost)story), written by Lena Arro and published by Opal.
The book is an intriguing mix of fiction, folklore, horror and history, as it takes the reader into a North-to-South journey across Sweden, visiting 9 remarkable locations and their historical and supernatural legacy. Each chapter features a creepy ghost story written by Lena, and related to the location.
When I started working on the book, my visual approach was greatly inspired by the work of classic Norwegian illustrator Theodor Kittelsen, whose ability to portray the folklore and myths related to scandinavian nature remains unsurpassed.
Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to directly visit all the places depicted in the book, by I drew inspiration from my knowledge of Scandinavian folklore and by the beautiful and magical Swedish nature which I have the privilege to experience on an almost daily basis.
Deep forests, wooden cottages and crystal-clear lakes (photos by Saga Maria Sandberg)
I am really happy with how the book turned out. It was definitely one of the most fun projects to work on.
If you want to know more about the book, please check the project page in my portfolio.
If you can read Swedish (or just want to enjoy the many illustrations I created), you can buy the book from Bokus. Moreover, some of the artwork can be purchased as a poster from my RedBubble page.
