Danny Wattin

Danny Wattin was born in Fresta, a suburb of Stockholm, in 1973. He is a playwright and author of prose for children and adults.

Wattin’s style is characterized by satirical and bizarre stories that move between the absurd and the ordinary. His first work, »Stockholmsägner« [2006; tr: Stockholm Stories], was initially self-published by the author. It quickly became a success and was one of the most talked about Swedish debuts of that year. The collection consists of unusual, interwoven short stories about the absurdity of city life. In 2013, Wattin published his first book for children, »Pojken i trädkojan« [2013; tr: The Boy in the Treehouse], which was written in collaboration with twenty-two nine-year-old schoolchildren. The suspenseful story tells of the orphan Johan, who lives alone in a tree house because he doesn’t want to go to an orphanage. »Mr. Isakowitz skatt« [2014; Eng. »The Treasure of Mr. Isakowitz«, 2015] was the first of Wattin’s books to be translated into German. It is based on a journey that the author undertook with his father and son to find a treasure that, according to family legend, his great-grandfather had buried before he was deported to a concentration camp. The young adult novel »David den mindre vises protokoll« [2022; tr: David’s Dilemma] is the author’s most recent work and his second publication in German translation. The novel is told from the perspective of the Jewish boy David, who gets deeper and deeper into a messy situation as a result of a series of bad decisions. With this story, Wattin takes a »sharply satirical look at the absurdities of anti-Semitism«, according to the »Jüdische Allgemeine«.

Wattin’s children’s book »Pojken i trädkojan« was adapted as a musical entitled »Johanna« and celebrated its premiere at Uppsala City Theater in 2023. »The Treasure of Mr. Isakowitz« has been published in fourteen countries.

The author lives in Uppsala.

Stockholmsägner
Piratförlaget
Stockholm, 2005

Pojken i trädkojan
Langenskiölds förlag
Stockholm, 2013

Herr Isakowitz skatt
Piratförlaget
Stockholm, 2014

David den mindre vises protokoll
Bokförlaget Polaris
Stockholm, 2022