Thomas Bodström, Sweden’s former Minister of Justice currently on sabbatical in Williamstown, will discuss the Stieg Larsson phenomenon and consider the relationship between fiction and fact in the trilogy. Who was Stieg Larsson and what was his background? What effect have his books had on the publishing world in Sweden and beyond? Why are these books so popular and how have they changed people´s perceptions of Sweden and Scandianvia? Based on his extensive familiarity with the Swedish legal system, Bödstrom will also address the ongoing battle over Larsson´s estate and to what extent the legal system that Larsson describes in his books corresponds to the reality of Sweden today.
May 5, 7pm – Griffin 3 – Cosponsored by International Studies and Center for Foreign Languages.