Producing and sustaining field-configuring events: the role of prizes in a Swedish Book Fair

Figures & data

Table 1. Six prizes selected for case study of the 2018 Gothenburg Book Fair.

Prizes	Prize givers	Prize rewards	Prize principles
The Bloodhound (Swe. Spårhunden)	The Swedish Academy of Crime Fiction (Swe. Svenska deckarakademin)	Certificate and figurine	‘The Bloodhound has been allocated since 2009 for commendable efforts in writing children and adolescent detective stories’ (Deckarakademin 2018)
Peter Pan’s Silver Stars (Swe. Peter Pans Silverstjärnor)	Book and Library (Swe. Bok och Bibliotek), and the International Board on Books for Young People	Diploma and trip to the Gothenburg Book Fair	‘The prize will go to a translated book for children or adolescents that has distinct literary qualities’ (IBBY 2018)
Cultural Journal of the Year (Swe. Årets kulturtidskrift)	The Association for Sweden’s Cultural Journals (Swe. Föreningen för Sveriges kulturtidskrifter)	€3500 and artwork	‘The aim is to show the breadth and quality that is found among Swedish cultural journals’ (FSK 2018)
Book of the Year (Swe. Årets bok)	Bonniers’ Book Clubs (Swe. Bonniers bokklubbar)	€2600 and figurine	‘To celebrate the book, together with the Swedish people, was our ambition when we created the prize’ (Bonniers 2018)
P.O. Enquist’s Prize (Swe. PO Enquists pris)	Book and Library (Swe. Bok och Bibliotek), and Norstedts Publishing (Swe. Norstedts förlag)	€5000	‘The prize shall go to a young author on his or her way out in Europe' (Norstedts 2018)
Radio Sweden’s Short Story Prize (Swe. Sveriges Radios Novellpris)	Radio Sweden (Swe. Sveriges radio)	€2200 and figurine	‘The prize was launched 2002 because the recital of literary texts, and especially that of short stories, fits so well for radio’ (SR 2018)

Table 2. Data collected for case study of the 2018 Gothenburg Book Fair.

Prizes	Observations (hour/s)	Interviews (instance/s)	Documents (texts)	Sources (years)
The Bloodhound	The Bloodhound prize allocation (1)	Swedish Academy of Crime Fiction board chair (1)	Swedish Academy of Crime Fiction newsletters, annual reports, and website screenshots (15) Swedish media articles (37) Gothenburg Book Fair programs (3)	Observations (2018) Interviews (2018) Documents (2016–2019)
Peter Pan’s Silver Stars	Peter Pan’s Silver Stars prize allocation (1)	International Board on Books for Young People Swedish branch founder (1)	International Board on Books for Young People newsletters, annual reports, and website screenshots (16) Gothenburg Book Fair programs (3)	Observations (2018) Interviews (2018) Documents (2016–2019)
Cultural Journal of the Year	Cultural Journal of the Year nominee presentation (4) Cultural Journal of the Year prize allocation (2)	Association for Sweden’s Cultural Journals board chairs (2)	Association for Sweden’s Cultural Journal newsletters, annual reports, and website screenshots (23) Swedish media articles (39) Gothenburg Book Fair programs (3)	Observations (2018) Interviews (2018) Documents (2016–2019)
Book of the Year	Book of the Year prize allocation (2) Bonnier Publishing mingle (4)	Bonnier Publishing chief officer (1)	Bonnier Publishing annual reports and website screenshots (12) Swedish media articles (96) Gothenburg Book Fair programs (3)	Observations (2018) Interviews (2018) Documents (2016–2019)
P.O. Enquist’s Prize	P.O. Enquist’s Prize allocation (2)	Norstedts Publishing chief officer (1)	Norstedts Publishing annual reports and website screenshots (10) Swedish media articles (55) Gothenburg Book Fair programs (3)	Observations (2018) Interviews (2018) Documents (2016–2019)
Radio Sweden’s Short Story Prize	Radio Sweden’s Short Story Prize allocation (2) Talk show before and after Radio Sweden’s Short Story Prize allocation (4)	Radio Sweden talk show host (1) Radio Sweden talk show producer and coordinator (1)	Swedish Radio website screenshots (9) Swedish media articles (144) Gothenburg Book Fair programs (3)	Observations (2018) Interviews (2018) Documents (2016–2019)
Total	22 observation hours	8 interview instances	474 document texts	2016–2019

Table 3. Example quotes for case study of the 2018 Gothenburg Book Fair.

General categories	Specific codes	Data excerpts
Field visibility as justification for organizing prizes in relation to field-configuring events	Prizes as tools through which to mobilize actors within particular fields Prizes as tools through which to seek attention within particular fields	‘My father was a wizard when it comes to lobbying … He thought, “an award is a way to highlight an issue … ”. In Norway, there were a lot of women fiction writers. In Sweden, we had almost none, and we wanted to bring female writers together … And then publishing of crime novels written by women exploded’ (Interview – Prize giver 1) ‘There are a lot of great literature awards in Sweden. The Nobel Prize, the August Prize, and so on. But there was no “people’s award” … I said that every other industry has one. Sport has one; music also has one; film has one too. But literature doesn't have one, which was fascinating’ (Interview – Prize giver 4)
Media visibility as justification for organizing prizes in relation to field-configuring events	Prizes as tools through which to popularize works beyond particular fields Prizes as tools through which to generate sales beyond particular fields	‘Well, it's true that the audience is big when a crime fiction awarded is presented. But it also has to do with [the fact that] she [the winner] is from Gothenburg, and she had a lot of friends here … I don't know how famous she is in the rest of the country. But she is also a person who is easy to recognize [beyond the literary field]’ (Interview – Prize giver 1) ‘Despite the fierce competition, the chief officer feels that the award provides many other spin-offs. Not least in the form of media coverage, mentions at various seminars, and, of course, sales figures’ (Observation – Prize allocation 5)