Jaana Susanna Emilia Alakoski Söderlund, née Alakoski, (born 16May 1962 in Vaasa, Finland) is a Sweden-Finn author, Novelist and

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

. She won the

August Prize The August Prize ( sv, Augustpriset) is an annual Swedish literary prize awarded each year since 1989 by the Swedish Publishers' Association. The prize is awarded to the best Swedish book of the year, in three categories. Prize In the years 1989- ...

in 2006 for the

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

'' Svinalängorna''. '' Svinalängorna'' was filmed in 2010 as ''

Beyond Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed b ...

''. She researches gender issues and works as a

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er.

Biography

Alakoski was born in 1962 in Vaasa, Finland and spent her early life in the Fridhem area in Ystad, Sweden. She studied to become a

socionom Professional social workers are generally considered those who hold a professional degree in social work. In a number of countries and jurisdictions, Licensure, registration or licensure of people working as social workers is required and there are ...

and finished her degree at the age of 23. In 1988, she studied writing at Skurups folkhögskola. Between 1995 and 2003, she worked as a press secretary for the Vänsterpartiet politician

Gudrun Schyman Gerd ''Gudrun'' Maria Schyman (born 9 June 1948) is a Swedish politician. She served as leader of the Swedish Left Party from 1993 until January 2003. She remained a member of the Left Party until 2004, when she left to focus entirely on her fem ...

. In 2006, she released her debut novel ''Svinalängorna''. It took the

in 2006. The novel sold over 400,000 copies in Sweden and it has been made into a feature film with the English title of ''Beyond''. In 2010, she released her second novel, ''Håpas du trifs bra i fengelset''. In 2011, she released her first children's novel, ''Dagens Harri'', which were followed by ''Guldfisken'' in 2012 and ''Dagens skräckis'' in 2013. She published a diary, ''Oktober i Fattigsverige'' in 2012. She has also been editor for the anthologies '' Tala om klass'', '' Lyckliga slut'', and '' Fejkad orgasm''

Personal life

She is married to Mats Söderlund since 1990. They have three children, Jaana-Kristina, Nilas, Runa. , she lives in Stockholm.

Bibliography – a selection

*'' Svinalängorna'' (2006) *''Håpas du trifs bra i fengelset'' (2010) *''Dagens Harri'' (2011) *''Guldfisken'' (2012) *''Oktober i Fattigsverige'' (2012) *''Dagens skräckis'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alakoski, Susanna 21st-century Finnish women writers August Prize winners Finnish women novelists Swedish women novelists 1962 births Living people People from Vaasa Moa Award recipients Swedish people of Finnish descent 21st-century Finnish novelists Finnish people of Swedish descent