Publishing manager Carl Lindsten is using support from the PK Hedborg Foundation to bring celebrated Belgian cartoonist Brecht Evens to Swedish readers.
After literary studies, Carl Lindsten started a small publishing firm ten years ago. His main project was to publish young authors, both Swedish and foreign work. For a couple of years now, his target is European literature, and Belgian and Dutch authors in particular. Among others, the famous Belgian author Lize Spit.
– I am very fond of Belgian literature, especially Flanders. I have been to Antwerp several times and I really love this city, says Carl Lindsten, publishing manager at It-lit.
Along with his work at the publishing firm, Carl Lindsten is working as project manager at the Swedish Comics Association. He has a growing interest in cartoons, and a fascination for cartoons with watercolor paintings in strong colors and no speech bubbles.
– Last year I decided to apply for a grant at the PK Hedborg foundation to publish the celebrated Belgian cartoonist Brecht Evens. This type of literature is very expensive to produce. It involves premium printing papers, and along with the translation costs and the fact that the lyrics are to be handwritten, it is difficult to publish without support, he says.
The story in question takes place in a Belgian city, where the reader follows three different people for one night. The plan is to publish the cartoon during autumn 2026, in good time for the Gothenburg Book Fair 2027 which has Flanders and the Netherlands as theme.
– When I visited Antwerp last time, I met several authors and publishers from Flanders, and I saw a lot of interesting objects for the future. My ambition is to go on publishing quality literature from Belgium, even though I know that we need grants like the one from the PK Hedborg foundation to make it possible, says Carl Lindsten.
