Lars Jonas Holger Gardell (born 2 November 1963) is a Swedish novelist, playwright, screenwriter and comedian. He is the brother of religion scholar

Mattias Gardell Hans Bertil Mattias Gardell (born 10 August 1959) is a Swedish historian and scholar of comparative religion. He is the current holder of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden. He was the first Leni ...

. He is well known for his books and plays in all of Scandinavia and his books have been translated to around 25 languages.

Early career

Gardell's first

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 ...

, (''The Passion Play''), was published in 1985. Since then, he has written some ten novels, including (''A Comedian Growing Up''), which became a TV series. He has also written several other books, nine plays and two screenplays that were made into movies, including (''Life is a Schlager''). His novels are not yet available in English. He wrote and performed himself the song "", which was performed by Bergström in the film.

Later years

In 2006, more than 20 years after his first novel was published, Gardell is one of Sweden's most famous stand-up comedians. Well known to be openly gay, Gardell is married to the Finnish-Swedish-American writer and TV presenter

Mark Levengood Mark Levengood, (born 10 July 1964 in Lejeune Base Camp, North Carolina, in the United States), is a Finnish journalist, writer, and television host who is working in Sweden. He is a Swedish-speaking Finn who grew up in Helsinki Helsinki ...

. He has one child by a female friend. Gardell performed his own play (''Temporary guest in your life'') (2007) at the Scala Theater in Stockholm. In 2013, Gardell was elected "Homo Bi Trans Person of the Year" at the Swedish

Gaygalan Awards Established by Swedish magazine QX in 1999, the Gaygalan Awards are an annual event created to hand out prizes for LGBT achievements. In 2004, the gala was broadcast for the first time on Sveriges Television when it was held at Hamburger Börs w ...

, notably for the book (''Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves''). His prize was presented to him by the Swedish Crown Princess

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, whom Gardell thanked with the words: "Victoria, you are our Crown Princess, but tonight I think that I'm our little queen" - this went down well with the Crown Princess, whom Gardell knows well. His husband Levengood hosts the immensely popular "

Victoria Day Victoria Day (french: Fête de la Reine, lit=Celebration of the Queen) is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25. Initially in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday, it has since been celebrated as the offi ...

" every year at the Swedish island of Öland, when the Swedes celebrate Crown Princess Victoria's birthday on 14 July. He participated in Melodifestivalen 2018.

Bibliography

* 1979 – * 1985 – * 1986 – * 1987 – * 1988 – * 1990 – * 1992 – * 1993 – * 1995 – * 1997 – Cheek to cheek. * 1998 – * 1998 – * 2001 – * 2003 – * 2006 – Jenny * 2009 – * 2011 – * 2012 – * 2013 – * 2013 –

Singles

References

Article from The Guardian about Swedish writers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardell, Jonas 1963 births Living people People from Danderyd Municipality 20th-century Swedish novelists Gay comedians Swedish male comedians Swedish male screenwriters LGBT Christians Swedish LGBT novelists Swedish LGBT dramatists and playwrights Swedish LGBT screenwriters Gay screenwriters Sommar (radio program) hosts Gay dramatists and playwrights Best Screenplay Guldbagge Award winners Swedish male novelists Swedish male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Swedish novelists Gay novelists