Jonas Gardell

Jonas Gardell (born Lars Jonas Holger Gardell, 2 November 1963 in Taby) is a Swedish novelist, playwright, screenwriter and comedian. Since his debut as an author in 1979, Gardell has written numerous novels, television and film scripts, shows, and song lyrics, and is well known for his books and plays throughout the Nordic countries; his books have been translated into some twenty-five languages.

Among his most notable novels are En komikers uppvaxt (A Comedian's Upbringing, 1992) and the trilogy Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves (Torka aldrig tarar utan handskar), published between 2012 and 2013. Both works were adapted into television series broadcast on SVT, and En komikers uppvaxt was also made into a feature film. The Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves trilogy depicts the HIV epidemic of the 1980s and how it spread among young gay men, and won several awards. Faith and theology are recurring themes in his work, including his non-fiction books Om Gud (About God, 2003) and Om Jesus (About Jesus, 2009).

Gardell has won several awards, including a Guldbagge Award for Best Screenplay for Pensionat Oskar, the Swedish TV award Kristallen for the series De halvt dolda, the Prix Futura for En komikers uppvaxt, the Froding Scholarship, and the Tage Danielsson Award in 1996. He received honorary doctorates in theology from Lund University (2007), in medicine from Linkoping University (2013), and in philosophy from Abo Akademi University (2018).

The son of professor Bertil Gardell and psychologist Ingegard Gardell, he grew up in Enebyberg, north of Stockholm, in a Christian family active in the Baptist Church. He made his debut as an author in 1981 with the poetry collection Den tigande talar (The Silent One Speaks), and published his first novel, Passionsspelet (The Passion Play), in 1985.