Pascal Engman
{{Short description|Swedish crime author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
File:Bokmässan 2024 354 – Pascal Engman (cropped).jpg in 2024]]
Pascal Carl Orlando Engman Murchio is a Swedish author and journalist. He is known for his crime fiction series featuring police detective Vanessa Frank, beginning with Eldslandet (The land of fire) in 2018. His works have been published in at least 19 languages, including English.
Early life and education
Pascal Carl Orlando Engman Murchio{{cn|date=April 2025}} was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to a Swedish mother and a Chilean father.{{fact|date=September 2022}}
Journalism
Engman began his professional life as a journalist, working first at the regional newspaper Trelleborgs Allehanda, then at online magazine Nyheter24,{{Cite web |title=Pascal Engman |url=https://nyheter24.se/pascal-engman |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=Nyheter24 |language=sv |archive-date=26 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126201217/https://nyheter24.se/pascal-engman |url-status=live }} then at the Swedish evening newspaper Expressen.{{Cite web |title=Expressen tar nöjesreporter från Aftonbladet |url=https://www.dagensmedia.se/medier/dagspress/expressen-tar-nojesreporter-fran-aftonbladet-6149091/ |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=dagensmedia.se |language=sv |archive-date=29 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829212152/https://www.dagensmedia.se/medier/dagspress/expressen-tar-nojesreporter-fran-aftonbladet-6149091 |url-status=live }}
Writing career
Engman's debut novel, Patrioterna (The Patriots), was published in Sweden in 2017.{{Cite web |title=Pascal Engman: "Ärligt talat så mår jag skit" |url=https://www.resume.se/kommunikation/media/pascal-engman-arligt-talat-sa-mar-jag-skit/ |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=Resume |language=sv |archive-date=28 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928220159/https://www.resume.se/kommunikation/media/pascal-engman-arligt-talat-sa-mar-jag-skit/ |url-status=live }}
Soon after publishing, the TV rights to Patrioterna were sold to Fabrik Entertainment in Los Angeles, the production company behind Amazon Prime's Bosch series and AMC's The Killing.{{Cite web |last=Brockington |first=Ariana |date=20 April 2018 |title=TV News Roundup: Michael C. Hall's 'Safe' Gets First Trailer, Netflix Release Date |url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/tv-news-roundup-michael-c-halls-safe-trailer-release-date-1202776732/ |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-date=2 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602194407/https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/tv-news-roundup-michael-c-halls-safe-trailer-release-date-1202776732/ |url-status=live}}
Following that stand-alone title, he began writing a series about police detective Vanessa Frank. As of 2022, there were four titles in the Vanessa Frank series: Eldslandet (The land of fire), Råttkungen (The rat king), Änkorna (The widows) and Kokain (Cocaine).{{Cite web |date=4 December 2021 |title=Årets läsupplevelse 2021 – plats 21: "Kokain" av Pascal Engman |url=https://www.boktugg.se/2021/12/04/arets-lasupplevelse-2021-plats-21-kokain-av-pascal-engman/ |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=Boktugg.se |language=sv-SE |archive-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707162702/https://www.boktugg.se/2021/12/04/arets-lasupplevelse-2021-plats-21-kokain-av-pascal-engman/ |url-status=live }} Råttkungen is the first of these to be published in English, under the title Femicide,{{Cite web |title=New Books 2022 {{!}} Swedish Book Review |url=https://swedishbookreview.org/new-books-2022 |access-date=5 August 2022 |website=swedishbookreview.org |date=2 March 2022 |language=en |archive-date=5 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805154536/https://swedishbookreview.org/new-books-2022 |url-status=live }} by Legend Press as part of a three-book deal. Femicide has already sold over 100,000 copies in Sweden alone.
As of 2022 the Vanessa Frank series is sold in over 20 countries and has been translated into 19 languages including English, German, Italian, Polish, and Spanish.{{Cite web |title=Legend Press lands Scandi crime trilogy from rising star Engman |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/legend-press-lands-scandi-crime-trilogy-from-rising-star-engman |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=The Bookseller |language=En |archive-date=21 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421091249/https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/legend-press-lands-scandi-crime-trilogy-from-rising-star-engman |url-status=live }}
=Critical reception=
Portrayed as a rising star in Scandinavian crime fiction,{{Cite web |title=Legend Press lands Scandi crime trilogy from rising star Engman |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/legend-press-lands-scandi-crime-trilogy-from-rising-star-engman |access-date=5 August 2022 |website=The Bookseller |language=En |archive-date=21 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421091249/https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/legend-press-lands-scandi-crime-trilogy-from-rising-star-engman |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Läget |title=Succéförfattaren Pascal Engman om karriären, yrket och pressen |url=https://sites.jmk.su.se/laget/succeforfattaren-pascal-engman-om-karriaren-yrket-och-pressen/3671 |access-date=5 August 2022 |website=sites.jmk.su.se |language=sv |archive-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630190707/https://sites.jmk.su.se/laget/succeforfattaren-pascal-engman-om-karriaren-yrket-och-pressen/3671 |url-status=live }} Engman has been called "the master of the new generation" by David Lagercrantz, the author of the later books in the Millennium series.{{Cite web |title=Deckarförfattarnas miljoner: Så mycket pengar drar de in |url=https://www.expressen.se/ekonomi/deckarforfattarnas-miljoner-sa-mycket-pengar-drar-de-in/ |access-date=5 August 2022 |website=Expressen |date=25 June 2022 |language=sv |archive-date=3 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703095221/https://www.expressen.se/ekonomi/deckarforfattarnas-miljoner-sa-mycket-pengar-drar-de-in/ |url-status=live }}
Other activities
In 2020, Engman founded the Pascal Engman Foundation, which works to promote reading among children and young people in Sweden. The foundation was officially launched in 2021.{{Cite web |date=23 February 2021 |title=DN Debatt. "Ny stiftelse ska främja läsning bland Sveriges unga" |url=https://www.dn.se/debatt/ny-stiftelse-ska-framja-lasning-bland-sveriges-unga/ |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=Dagens Nyheter |language=sv |archive-date=1 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201200331/https://www.dn.se/debatt/ny-stiftelse-ska-framja-lasning-bland-sveriges-unga/ |url-status=live }} Its main activity is to award an annual scholarship ("Reading Promoter of the Year") to an individual or an organisation that has made significant contributions in this field.{{Cite web |date=28 May 2021 |title=Anneli Glamsare årets läsfrämjare 2021 – Pascal Engman-stiftelsens första stipendiat |url=https://www.boktugg.se/2021/05/28/anneli-glamsare-arets-lasframjare-2021-pascal-engman-stiftelsens-forsta-stipendiat/ |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=Boktugg.se |language=sv-SE |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401050845/https://www.boktugg.se/2021/05/28/anneli-glamsare-arets-lasframjare-2021-pascal-engman-stiftelsens-forsta-stipendiat/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=TT |date=8 June 2022 |title=Bibliotekarie prisas av Pascal Engman |language=sv |work=Svenska Dagbladet |url=https://www.svd.se/a/v5o04B/bibliotekarie-prisas-av-pascal-engman |access-date=4 August 2022 |issn=1101-2412 |archive-date=9 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609003050/https://www.svd.se/a/v5o04B/bibliotekarie-prisas-av-pascal-engman |url-status=live }} The prize committee awarding the scholarship each year consists of several prominent media personalities, including former SVT CEO Eva Hamilton.{{Cite web |title=Ledamöter |url=https://www.pascalengmansstiftelse.se/ledamoter |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=Pascal Engmans stiftelse – för läsfrämjande i Sverige |language=en-US |archive-date=8 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608104116/https://www.pascalengmansstiftelse.se/ledamoter |url-status=live }}
Selected works
- Patrioterna (The Patriots), 2017
= The Vanessa Frank series =
- Eldslandet (The land of fire), 2018
- Råttkungen (The rat king), 2019. Published in English by Legend Press under the title Femicide, 2022.
- Änkorna (The widows), 2020
- Kokain (Cocaine), 2021
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Swedish people of Chilean descent
Category:Swedish male journalists
Category:Writers from Stockholm
Category:21st-century Swedish journalists