Jonas Hassen Khemiri

Jonas Hassen Khemiri, born in 1978, has a Tunisian father and a Swedish mother. He grew up in Stockholm, has studied economics in Paris and been an intern at the UN in New York. He made a celebrated debut in 2003 with Ett öga rött/One Eye Red, which has sold over 200,000 copies in Sweden and became the best-selling paperback of any category in 2004. For Ett öga rött/One Eye Red Jonas Hassen Khemiri received the Borås Tidning award for best literary debut, Sweden’s most important award for a first book. In the fall of 2007 the film based on Ett öga rött/One Eye Red will open in Swedish cinemas.Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s second novel, Montecore, was published to unanimous raving reviews in 2006. In strong international competition it was awarded to 2006 year’s P O Enquist Prize. Later the same year, Montecore was nominated for the August literary award. Montecore also received Sveriges Radio’s Romanpris award for best novel of 2007. The listener jury’s motivation reads: "Because Jonas Hassen Khemiri leaves his mark on every single word in Montecore in an inspirational “transpiration” of creativity. Montecore is a beautiful, melancholic but also wonderfully funny book that depicts Sweden in a unique light, making it hard to think of anyone who shouldn’t read it."Jonas Hassen Khemiri has also had a praised start as a playwright. His first play “Invasion!” was written for The Stockholm City Theatre and played two seasons of sold out performances. His drama debut also opened the doors for Khemiri to participate at Royal Court’s International Residency in London. His new play will open at Riksteatern in 2007.Translation rights to Khemiri’s novels have so far been sold to: Germany, France, The Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Russia and Serbia.