Author(s): Linnéa Axelsson (translated by Saskia Vogel)

Novel | Polar regions | Sweden | Translated fiction | Poetry

In Northern Sami, the word AEdnan means the land, the ground, the earth. In this majestic verse novel, Linnea Axelsson chronicles the fates of two Indigenous Sami families, telling of their struggle and persistence over a century of colonial displacement, loss and resistance.It begins with Ristin and Ber-Jona, who are trying to care for their troubled young sons while migrating their reindeer herd in northernmost Scandinavia during the 1910s. The coming of the Swedes brings new borders that lay waste to Sami customs and migration paths - and mean devastating separation for this family.In the 1970s, Lise grapples with how she was forced to adapt to Swedish society, haunted by her time in a 'nomad school' where she was deprived of her ancestors' language and history. Lise's daughter, Sandra, seeks to reclaim that heritage, becoming an activist struggling for reparations from the Swedish state.As one generation succeeds another, their voices interweave and form a spellbinding hymn to lands and traditions lost and reclaimed. Written in sparse, glittering verse that flows like a current,?AEdnan is a profound and moving epic of Sami life.

In Northern Sámi, the word Ædnan means the land, the ground, the earth. In this majestic verse novel, Linnea Axelsson chronicles the fates of two Indigenous Sámi families, telling of their struggle and persistence over a century of colonial displacement, loss and resistance.

It begins with Ristin and Ber-Joná, who are trying to care for their troubled young sons while migrating their reindeer herd in northernmost Scandinavia during the 1910s. The coming of the Swedes brings new borders that lay waste to Sámi customs and migration paths – and mean devastating separation for this family.

In the 1970s, Lise grapples with how she was forced to adapt to Swedish society, haunted by her time in a ‘nomad school’ where she was deprived of her ancestors’ language and history. Lise’s daughter, Sandra, seeks to reclaim that heritage, becoming an activist struggling for reparations from the Swedish state. As one generation succeeds another, their voices interweave and form a spellbinding hymn to lands and traditions lost and reclaimed. Written in sparse, glittering verse that flows like a current, Ædnan is a profound and moving epic of Sámi life.

Review: 'Crystalline... reads like poetry and myth at once. There are intricate layers of beauty and meaning here in sparse clusters across a vast new landscape as I've never read before. The music of this book is old, and it is new, and it is old' - Tommy Orange, author of 'There, There'

'Mesmerising. A beautiful, poetic weaving of language, character and place... Evocative and heart-breaking' - Audrey Magee, author of 'The Colony'

'A soul-gripping and enthralling journey into what it feels like to be othered in your own land... Axelsson offers us a profound invitation into understanding what it means to be deeply intertwined with nature' - Lola Akinmade Akerstrom, author of 'In Every Mirror She's Black'

'A sharp-edged tale in verse of colonial suppression, resistance, and survival' - Kirkus Reviews, starred review

'Incredibly beautiful and magnificent... With AEdnan, Swedish literature has been enriched' - Dagens Nyheter

Author Biography: Linnea Axelsson is a Sami-Swedish writer, born in the province of North Bothnia in Sweden. In 2009, she earned a Ph.D in art history from Umea University. In 2018, she was awarded the August Prize for AEdnan. She lives in Stockholm, Sweden.