Pascal Carl Orlando Engman Murchio (born 30 July 1986) is a Swedish author and journalist. With more than 600,000 copies of his books sold in Sweden alone, he is the best-selling Swedish author in the millennial generation.[1] His works have been translated into 19 languages.[2] Portrayed as a rising star in Scandinavian crime fiction,[3][4] Engman has been called "the master of the new generation" by David Lagercrantz, the author of the later books in the Millennium series.[5]

Pascal Engman at the Göteborg Book Fair in 2024.

Early life and journalism career

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Engman was born in Stockholm, Sweden to a Swedish mother and a Chilean father.[citation needed]

He began his professional life as a journalist, working first at the regional newspaper Trelleborgs Allehanda, then at online magazine Nyheter24,[6] then at the Swedish evening newspaper Expressen.[7]

Writing career

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Engman's debut novel, Patrioterna (‘The Patriots’), was published in Sweden in 2017.[8]

Soon after publishing, the TV rights to The Patriots were sold to Fabrik Entertainment in Los Angeles, the production company behind Amazon Prime's Bosch series and AMC's The Killing.[9]

Following that stand-alone title, he began writing a series about police detective Vanessa Frank. As of 2022, there are four titles in the Vanessa Frank series: Eldslandet (‘The Land of Fire’), Råttkungen (‘The Rat King’), Änkorna (‘The Widows’) and Kokain (‘Cocaine’).[10] Råttkungen is the first of these to be published in English, under the title Femicide,[11] by Legend Press as part of a three-book deal. Femicide has already sold over 100,000 copies in Sweden alone.[2]

The Vanessa Frank series is sold in over 20 countries and has been translated into 19 languages including English, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish.[2]

Literacy initiative

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In 2020, Engman founded the Pascal Engman Foundation, which works to promote reading amongst children and young people in Sweden. The foundation was officially launched in 2021.[12] Its main activity is to award an annual scholarship (‘Reading Promoter of the Year’) to an individual or an organisation that has made significant contributions in this field.[13][14] The prize committee awarding the scholarship each year consists of several prominent media personalities, including former SVT CEO Eva Hamilton.[15]

Bibliography

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  • Patrioterna (‘The Patriots’), 2017

The Vanessa Frank series

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  • Eldslandet (‘The Land of Fire’), 2018
  • Råttkungen (‘The Rat King’), 2019. Published in English by Legend Press under the title Femicide, 2022.
  • Änkorna (‘The Widows’), 2020
  • Kokain (‘Cocaine’), 2021

References

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  1. ^ "Topplistor – Svenska Förläggareföreningen". 16 March 2021. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Legend Press lands Scandi crime trilogy from rising star Engman". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Legend Press lands Scandi crime trilogy from rising star Engman". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  4. ^ Läget. "Succéförfattaren Pascal Engman om karriären, yrket och pressen". sites.jmk.su.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Deckarförfattarnas miljoner: Så mycket pengar drar de in". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Pascal Engman – Nyheter, artiklar, reportage och video – Nyheter24". nyheter24.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Expressen tar nöjesreporter från Aftonbladet". dagensmedia.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Pascal Engman: "Ärligt talat så mår jag skit"". Resume (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  9. ^ Brockington, Ariana (20 April 2018). "TV News Roundup: Michael C. Hall's 'Safe' Gets First Trailer, Netflix Release Date". Variety. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Årets läsupplevelse 2021 – plats 21: "Kokain" av Pascal Engman". Boktugg.se (in Swedish). 4 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  11. ^ "New Books 2022 | Swedish Book Review". swedishbookreview.org. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  12. ^ "DN Debatt. "Ny stiftelse ska främja läsning bland Sveriges unga"". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 23 February 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Anneli Glamsare årets läsfrämjare 2021 – Pascal Engman-stiftelsens första stipendiat". Boktugg.se (in Swedish). 28 May 2021. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  14. ^ TT (8 June 2022). "Bibliotekarie prisas av Pascal Engman". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2412. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Ledamöter". Pascal Engmans stiftelse – för läsfrämjande i Sverige. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.