Jenny Jägerfeld

Jenny Jägerfeld was born in Skärblacka, Sweden in 1974. Her studies included Philosophy and Psychology. Today she heads a psychological practice in Stockholm and works as a journalist and editor for magazines and nonfiction books. In Stockholm’s House of Culture, she organizes the even series »Psychologists Read Books«, since 2013 supplemented by the program »Psychologists go to the Theater«.

In 2006, Jägerfeld had her literary debut with the novel »Hål i huvudet« (tr. A hole in the head), the story of 20-year-old Minou: one day when she comes home, her boyfriend Isaac has broken up with her via audiocassette because he knows she wouldn’t let him go otherwise. Confused and unhappy, Minou travels to Spain to get over not only the impersonal style of the end of their relationship, but also Isaac entirely. Swedish critics praised the novel’s successful balance between tragic and (unexpected) humor, as well as its drastic and touching, but always precise descriptions of the phases in the protagonist’s emotional rollercoaster ride. The young people’s novel »Här ligger jag och blöder« (Eng. »Me on the Floor, Bleeding«, 2013), followed in 2010; the author recommends it also for adults. It won the August Prize for Best Youth Novel in 2010 and the Lynx of the Month Prize for August 2014, which is sponsored by the newspaper »Die Zeit« and Radio Bremen. This is story of Maja, who cuts of the tip of her thumb with a jigsaw and, after this accident, begins to question her own identity. Does she suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome like her mother, and is that how she came to injure herself? Is this disease also the reason she can’t imagine that a cool guy like Justin could fall in love with her? In a mixture of love story and psychological thriller, written in a vibrant, contemporary language and with often biting humor, Jägerfeld sketches the ups and downs of first love and the difficulties of growing up. After the author took part in the collective short story anthology »Avståndet mellan« (2012; tr. The distance between), in the same year an erotic story was published in the anthology »Het« (tr. Hot; Jägerfeld’s story is also available as an e-book titled »Paris Surprise«). Her third novel, »Jag är ju så jävla easy going« (tr. I am just soooo easy-going) appeared in 2013. The Swedish newspaper »Göteborgs« wrote that the explanation given by the August Prize jury also applies to this story of the hyperactive 18-year-old Johanna, who describes her surroundings in drastic language: that Jägerfeld has presented a psychological portrait whose expression is credible.

Jenny Jägerfeld lives in Stockholm.

Hål i huvudet

Gilla Böcker

Stockholm, 2006

Paris Surprise

[E-Book]

Oetinger

Hamburg, 2013

[Ü: Katrin Frey]

Der Schmerz, die Zukunft, meine Irrtümer und ich

Hanser

München, 2014

[Ü: Birgitta Kicherer]

Ich bin ja so verdammt easy going

Hanser

München, 2015

[Ü: Birgitta Kicherer]

www.jennyjagerfeld.se