Marit Kapla

“When people get the opportunity to talk about things that matter to them, you not only need to listen to the words, but to how they are spoken as well.”

Author and journalist Marit Kapla debuted in 2019 with the prizewinning poetic essay book Osebol. In the 800 or so pages of this thick volume, readers get acquainted with 42 villagers by way of first-person accounts. Through phrasing the transcripts like poems, a format is created that allows words, as well as their inflection and significance, to be conveyed in an unsurpassed way. The book has been translated into a number of languages and is widely read. In Marit Kapla’s second book, Kärlek på svenska, published 2022, a similar method is used, with the same positive results.

Motivation:
Author and journalist Marit Kapla debuted in 2019 with Osebol, a polyphonic poetic portrayal of the small community in Värmland where she grew up. Using interviews and conversations, she deftly depicts the lives of the remaining inhabitants and their surroundings. Published in 2022,  Kärlek på svenska (“Love in Swedish”) employs a similar method to craft a nuanced account of people’s innermost thoughts about love.

Inspired by the essays of Nobel Laureate Svetlana Alexievich, Marit Kapla continues an oral history tradition where recorded conversations are forged into poetic choral works.

For her ability to, with great respect, linguistic precision, and thoughtful reflection, render individual voices, Marit Kapla is awarded the 2023 Culture Scholarship from the Sten A Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture.