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‘Sweden is such a wonderful place, I’d find it difficult to write anything set in the UK’

How does a Brit with Polish roots end up writing novels about Sweden? By spending more than 40 summers there, author Robin Porecky explains.

Published: 13 February 2017 06:59 CET
'Sweden is such a wonderful place, I'd find it difficult to write anything set in the UK'
Author Robin Porecky pictured in Sweden. Photo: Robin Porecky

Porecky is someone with a genuinely international background. Of Polish origin but born and raised in the UK, the Englishman also served in the British Army in Nigeria, so he has seen a lot of the world. It was in Sweden, however, that he found the inspiration for his books:

“I would find it really difficult to write anything set in the UK, because Sweden is just such a wonderful place and I'm very much an outdoor man. The forest, the lakes, it had to be about that.”

So how exactly did the Brit come to Sweden in the first place? That story is a familiar one.

“I came to Sweden because, well, is there any other reason? I fell in love with a Swede,” he laughs.

“I went over to Sweden and married her. And that's a very long time ago, more than 50 years. So, that gave me all the contacts I needed and I got help with the language. We've been tied to Sweden ever since. Now one of our children, and our grandchildren are there.”

Since he was a child Porecky has always had a big imagination, but he didn't find the time to focus on his writing until he retired in 1990. Then, all he needed was the ideal place to get inspired, and Sweden provided it.

“Once I started writing we got a 'sommarstuga', a Swedish summer cottage, up in the north, up in Jämtland. That’s where I wrote and that's where I was doing all my novels.”


A photo Porecky took of a valley in Indal, Sundsvall. Photo: Robin Porecky

The Swedish inspiration worked: Porecky's first novel, “A Pathless Land”, was longlisted for the Authors Club Best First Novel Award in 2010. Once he had his second book under his belt, he decided to focus on crime stories set in the place he was drawing inspiration from.

“My agent persuaded me to move from historical novels, which the first two were, to Swedish crime writing,” he notes. As a result, Porecky created Swedish inspector Magnus Trygg, the main character of his five following books.

What sets the Magnus Trygg series apart from other Swedish crime novels according to Porecky is the hero's unique perspective. “I made him half Thai and half Swedish. So he himself has a different viewpoint, which I felt might be a good thing, because I also have, as I suppose, a half English half Swedish view point,” he says.

The Brit's international history is particularly apparent in the latest book of the Magnus Trygg series, Benin Bronze, where the story links Sweden with Africa.

“I spent quite a lot of time in parts of Africa, Nigeria and what was then the Gold Coast (now Ghana). I'm a military man, I was in the army, so I had a huge amount of experience of all that sort of things. So, the book starts off in Nigeria and the Gold Coast, in colonial times, and then it has something nasty happening in Sweden, which can tie into it.”

Preparation is particularly important for the author when writing his books. With his first novel, the research phase gave him a reason to explore the northern parts of Scandinavia, Lapland, or as it is known in the native Sami language, Sápmi.

“I went up there and I walked all over the parts I was going to use, so that every step the characters took, every suffering step, I've taken as well. And I did that with all my books. If it was going to be, as in the last one, a murder at a lake, I'll go and walk all round this lake and fish there and find out everything about it and the roads that lead to it,” he reveals.


A poster advertising one of Porecky's Magnus Trygg books in Bispsgården, Sweden. Photo: Robin Porecky

Porecky's love of nature is not only apparent in his books. His other passion is making knives, something he would also do at his beloved summer cottage in Jämtland:

“I made about 34 knives and every single one of them was utterly different. People who wanted a knife could come to me. In one case, they came and actually chose the tree, from which I would cut the wood from a year later.”

Benin Bronze is currently being considered from the Crime Writers Association International Gold Dagger Award, and it seems the author has decided to go out on a high note. After tying up the story of his Swedish inspector Trygg in the last part of the series, Porecky now has no plans for a further book.

“It’s sad really. But I brought it to an end and it gets harder when you get older. I was trying to bring out one a year and I achieved that over seven books. I think probably that'll be it.”

One of his few regrets is that the Trygg series is not better known in Sweden, he bemoans, but his love of Sweden continues regardless:

“I'm still spending some time in Sweden, with my family there and my wife wanting to go back, we are all across Sweden anyway,” he notes.

Looking back at his experience as an author, he encourages anyone considering writing to give it a try.

“What I would say is: always go for it, just do it! Don't panic, just get a pen, start writing and keep going! You probably have to throw it all away and start again, do that several times and lose a lot of it, but in the end, you will get there!”

And if all else fails, sitting in a lovely sommarstuga in Sweden helps when it comes to finding inspiration, he concludes.

Article written by The Local contributor Christian Krug.

For members

READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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