Published today: In Every Moment We Are Still Alive by Tom Malmquist

The prize-winning, bestselling tale of love, loss, family and the lives we live moment by moment, from a stunning new voice in European fiction

IN EVERY MOMENT WE ARE STILL ALIVE

 Tom Malmquist

 In Every Moment We Are Still Alive by Tom Malmquist, translated by Henning Koch, is published in hardback by Sceptre today.

Winner of Dagens Nyheters Kulturpris 2016 and shortlisted for the Nordic Councils Literature Prize 2016, In Every Moment We Are Still Alive introduces a stunning new voice in European fiction.  The award-winning and highly-acclaimed poet Tom Malmquist, takes the sensory impact of grief as the starting point of his first work of prose: a beautiful, raw piece of auto-fiction about the year where his life changed dramatically.

 I have gotten rid of the TV, I have cancelled my subscriptions to magazines, I read the books you have bought and am thinking of the under-linings that are still there on every other page, I glance only briefly through the news on my phone, I can barely handle that anymore, I hear screams and I hear the foghorns, I can even be afraid of a small forest fire thousands of kilometres away and I immediately start to imagine how the birds are charred in the upward winds.

Tom and Karin are blissfully expecting their first child, when suddenly what all soon-to-be parents fear, happens.  Karin is rushed to hospital, after falling seriously ill. The baby is taken out by caesarean section and lies safe at one end of the hospital, and Karin lies at the other end, struggling for her life. As if in some hellish nightmare, Tom rushes from intensive care to the neonatal, faced with the wonder of new life, and the horror of loss. ..

Tragic and meditative, achingly poignant and darkly funny, this heavily autobiographical novel has been described in its native Sweden as 'hypnotic', 'impossible to resist' and 'one of the most powerful books about grief ever written.' Structured in five parts representing each of the senses which, according to Malmquist, ’best reflects the experience of loss’, In Every Moment We Are Still Alive deftly and powerfully balances loss and grief with the anxiety and ultimate joy of bringing up a baby alone.  

About the author:

Tom Malmquist (born 1978) has previously written two critically acclaimed collections of poetry, published by Wahlström & Widstrand. Sudden death (2007) and Fadersmjölken (2009). In every moment we are still alive is his first work of prose for which he has already received staggering reviews both in Sweden and abroad. Tom was awarded the Karin Boye’s Literary prize and the Albert Bonnier scholarship for Swedish writers in 2015. In 2016 he won Dagens Nyheters Culture award and was shortlisted for the Nordic Arts council Prize. Tom lives in Stockholm with his daughter.

 PRAISE FOR IN EVERY MOMENT WE ARE STILL ALIVE

 “It is not only admiration, but also wonder, I feel about Malmquist’s way to face the grief with linguistic energy.” Kulturnytt

“Impossible to resist” Expressen

“…one of the most hypnotically terrifying love stories I have ever read.”  Helsingborgs Dagblad

“An exceptionally strong, moving and wise book about loss and grief.” Cathrine Bakke Bolin, Gyldendal

“WOW, what a book! I broke down while reading it, and at thre same time it is completely free from any sentimentality.” Charlotte Jorgenson, CK Forlag

“A brave, raw and beautiful new voice in European fiction.” Drummond Moir, Sceptre