Kristian Lundberg (1966–2022) was a Swedish writer and poet whose work explored labor, class, and religion. His defining output spans more than thirty books, with The Yard being his magnum opus; updating the venerable Swedish tradition of working-class literature, Lundberg has been hailed as a modern-day Ivar-Lo Johansson.
In addition to writing prose and poetry, Lundberg
was a controversial literary critic. He once published a review of a book he admittedly hadn’t read, and less than a year before passing away, he wrote an op-ed describing himself as a right-wing conservative, a statement many thought was at odds with the thrust of his literary oeuvre. While he is difficult to pin down, his mark on Swedish public debate remains unquestionable. Though he is one of the most prominent chroniclers of the eroding Swedish welfare state, Lundberg has never previously been translated into English.
