- It is close to twenty years of cooperation that has led to where we are today. She was then a young, promising writer from the first free author generation following the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

- We realized that this is a very interesting author, and since then we have followed her and released her titles at the rate they have come, says Mikael Nydahl, publisher at Ariel publisher, to SVT Skåne.

A growing interest

When Mikael Nydahl started publishing Olga Tokarczuk, it was far from all Swedes who knew who she was.

- A large part of the audience were exile Poles who were incredibly happy that we had invited one of their fine writers, he says.

But since then, interest has grown explosive.

- We have known that her authorship and her person when she has been here and performed have resonated with readers and critics, it has had its own power.

This summer, Mikael Nydahl began the process of handing over Tokarczuk's authorship from little Ariel to the big publisher Bonniers. Does he regret now that she has been awarded the Nobel Prize? No the opposite.

Positive to the collaboration

- It's very nice to have this cooperation in your back. That there is an apparatus larger than my own publisher that takes care of much of the practical work that is now coming.

- The books we have in stock sold out in two hours yesterday. Ariel publisher is a one-man publisher. What you see here is the entire publishing structure, ”says Mikael Nydahl, showing her little frigate.

- There could have come a time when Ariel publisher could not shoulder the responsibility we as publishers have for her. By responsibility, I mean things like giving her the readership her work deserves, and giving her literary thinking the resonance it deserves.