Klas Östergren (b. 1955) is one of the leading writers of contemporary Swedish literature. He made his debut in 1975 with the novel Attila, and had his great breakthrough five years later with Gentlemen. In 2005 he published an acclaimed sequel, Gangsters. Östergren has written sixteen novels, and several volumes of short stories and film scripts. He has also translated all twelve of Ibsen’s social dramas into Swedish. Östergren has received several prestigious prizes, such as the Dobloug Prize (1998), the Selma Lagerlöf Prize (2012) and De Nio Storas Pris (2005). From 2014 to 2018 he was a member of the Swedish Academy.