Jade Jagger+Indiska=Yes!
Mick Jagger’s daughter, Jade Jagger, is collaborating with Indiska, a Swedish fashion and interior design chain founded in 1901. Jade Jagger is first and foremost a jewelry designer, and founded her own company Jade Inc. in 1997; she has also worked for Asprey & Garrard. “It’s a great opportunity for me to work with Indiska in particular,” Jagger said. “It’s an accessible company with a unique concept and an international feeling that fits well with my own style and values. Through this collaboration I hope my design will reach a broader audience.” Jade Jagger for Indiska will be available in stores on May 14 next year. www.indiska.com

Lundell the Younger.
À propos daughters with famous fathers… Ulf Lundell, Sweden’s own Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen depending on who is doing the comparison has a daughter - Sanna - to whom he once dedicated a song. Said Sanna is a blogger with journalistic aspirations and she is quite a good read. In her blog we found that she is a devotee of a church Nordstjernan wrote about not too long ago, Allhelgonakyrkan in Stockholm. The pastor there, Olle Carlsson, began a string of group discussions ten years ago, and these developed into sermons, sermons that today are extremely popular and often crowded. Writes Sanna in her blog: “Here odd people are mixing, the homeless with the old junkies, the homosexuals with the newly sober and the transsexuals, the sad with the happy, the beautiful with the ugly, and the young with the old. Here one is allowed to be a human being, unembellished and naked.” The sermon Sanna heard last Saturday began with a poem by the Sufi poet Jelaluddin Rumi: The Guest House This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes. Because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. If you read Swedish you can follow Sanna on her blog at www.mama.nu and if this peaked your interested in Allhelgonakyrkan and Pastor Olle Carlsson, you can find more information about it here: www.allhelgonakyrkan.se

Liberals reject immigrant citizenship course.
The Liberal Party has voted against a proposal from the party leadership for the introduction of mandatory courses for all immigrants seeking Swedish citizenship. The party members voted 83-71 against the controversial proposal at the party conference in Växjö in southern Sweden. The decision is a setback for the party hierarchy, which first announced the idea in March 2008. "Of course I am disappointed, I wanted the proposal to go through," integration minister Nyamko Sabuni said. The proposal to introduce mandatory citizenship courses for immigrants met with fierce opposition at the conference. Many voiced a fear that if adopted it would risk the party being associated with the far-right Sweden Democrats. "It is silly to connect integration policy with the Sweden Democrats, that is to ascribe them power which they do not hold," Sabuni said. The course is proposed to be obligatory for all applicants for Swedish citizenship and would be held by county councils at no cost to the applicant. Many speakers questioned what exactly the course is supposed to teach. Gunnar Nordmark from Växjö considered the proposal to indicate that Sweden does not trust immigrants and warned that racist organizations are starting to brutalize the integration debate. “We unintentionally risk dancing with the wolves," he said. Those who defended the proposal argued that teaching the shared founding principles of Swedish society is important not least for the boys and girls who are forced to live within honor cultures.

August Prize 2009.
The Swedish Augustpriset is an annual prize given out by the Svenska Förläggarföreningen (Swedish Publishers’ Association) in three categories: The best Swedish book of fiction of the year, the best Swedish book of non-fiction of the year, and the best Swedish children’s book of the year. All publishing houses in Sweden (not only members of the Publishers’ Association) are permitted to submit books. A jury of five members for each category nominates six titles for the shortlist among those submitted. The nominees are revealed at a press conference in late October. The winner takes home 100,000 SEK ($14,507), a small statuette, and lots of glory of course. This year’s winners were: Steve Sem-Sandberg for his novel “De fattiga i Łódź” (best Swedish book of fiction), Brutus Östling and Susanne Åkesson for their book “Att överleva dagen” (best Swedish book of non-fiction) and Ylva Karlsson, Katarina Kuick, Sara Lundberg and Lilian Bäckman for their book “Skriv om och om igen” (best Swedish children’s book of the year). The award ceremony was held at Stockholm Konserthus. Said Steve Sem-Sandberg when he received the prize: “I am overwhelmed.” Later he added that he would probably use his prize money to build a new workroom. There’s also a Lilla Augustpriset, the Little August Prize, awarded very young, aspiring writers ages 16-20. This year’s winner, Isabella Nilsson, won SEK 15,000 ($2,175). She said: “The worst thing with being young is, that you have to tågluffa (traveling by Interrail throughout Europe).”