Liten is an imaginary island between Sweden and Denmark, surrounded by a leaden sea and with an atmosphere poised between isolation and the fury of social media. Impatient young people, souls on the run, solitudes that come together in a community that is only apparently remote. In the first volume of the series written by Arwin J. Seaman, “Murder out of season”, at the center of the story and the investigation – conducted by a foreigner, the Malmö forensic inspector Henning Olsson, together with a bizarre photographer, his icy ex-girlfriend and the local police – there were three girls found dead in a lake. The new title, “A day of apparent calm” (Piemme, pp. 336, €18.90), begins with the death of the young Åke, who falls from a cliff while filming himself with the telephone, in an attempt to imitate and bring at the extreme one of the videos of Malin, his schoolmate, daughter of the police chief Owe Dahlber, a local YouTuber who has become a web star with her news from the island and herto fit challenge. From here, the story delves into the island community and brings back to the surface loves and resentments that have never subsided.
It remains a curiosity. Who is Arwin J. Seaman? Who is the successful Italian writer – this is how Piemme presents him – who hides behind the pseudonym that is giving life to this successful Scandinavian noir? The following is an interview with the mysterious author, requested and granted strictly in writing. His identity has become his publishing house’s best-kept secret. No one knows her except the editor of the Fiction.
Seaman, are you a man or a woman?
“I won’t answer that question.”
The origins, at least?
«I live in the North, but my origins tie me to the South, where I cultivate ties and affinities».
Is the pseudonym a necessity or marketing?
«Need, without a doubt. Desire to experiment with new formulas compared to those already tried and tested, to get out of the so-called “comfort zone””.
The publishing house presents her as a successful writer…
«Success is a subjective perception, for my part I would not have chosen this term, given that I find it uncomfortable to feel like I have “arrived”. However, I have received great affection from the public, from which I imagine the publisher’s choice to recognize my consolidated popularity derives.”
Seaman why?
«I went for a long time in search of a harmonious name that was as pleasant to pronounce as it was to read. Arwin also has a vaguely Celtic aftertaste which amused me. The surname was easier, because I wanted it to evoke the atmosphere of books.”
Will it reveal itself sooner or later?
«I think so, I would like to complete this project and then, finally, be able to talk about it, even with my “regular” readers».
Coming to the series… by the way, is it a series?
«The original project includes six volumes, with a gradual rotation of the point of view. The protagonists, the six main characters, are always the same, what changes is their weight within each single story. Liten herself is perceived differently depending on which eyes look at her. In the first volume of the series, Henning (the forensic inspector, ed.) knows her little and feels a previous dislike, also due to some preconceived ideas of hers. In the second volume, Malin (the local YouTuber, ed.) was born and raised there, she knows it and experiences it like a cage that keeps her prisoner. In the third volume, which shifts the axis to Owe Dahlber (Malin’s father, local police chief, ed.), we will see a Liten more similar to a nest to be defended. With this, I confirm that the third volume is already in progress.”
Why an island?
«It can be metaphorically brought closer to the concept of a small provincial town. There are many types of isolation, just think of those towns that are poorly connected to major arteries, places where, if you don’t own a vehicle, you have no way of getting away. Not to mention mountain areas, which can become isolated at any moment due to atmospheric phenomena. The concept of island encompasses everything, frustration as well as attachment to the territory.”
And the North?
«For the love of the cold. Heat and cold always affect nature and the moods of those who live there. The icy narrative of Scandinavian writers, for example, contrasts with the sanguine narrative typical of stories set in Italy. I chose to move away from the warmth of our land to understand if, by distancing myself, I could move the characters by archetypes.”
On Liten you can feel the isolation, less the isolation. Because of or thanks to new technologies?
«Partly yes, and yet, I must repeat myself, in some mountain communities isolation is considered inevitable, if not natural. The Internet and social media open a window, especially for young people (who also show impatience with Liten), but which does not change their lifestyle. Instead, there is a cohesion between adults, due precisely to the sense of belonging and having adapted to isolation.”
Is it now impossible to isolate yourself completely?
«It’s a question of will. Anyone who wishes can isolate themselves, even choosing alienation. Although the timing is in line with Orwell’s Big Brother, leaving the surveillance area is a snap. It’s all about wanting it.”
Do you practice isolation?
«When I have the opportunity, I practice it, even for a few days. But then again, it’s more of a mental factor than a physical one, just turn off your cell phone, unplug your computer and half the work is done. Of course, moving around and choosing a peaceful destination helps, but it’s all a question of will. The isolation is mainly internal.”
Liten experiences the abuse and violence of social media. Don’t like modern society?
«I find that our society evolves and involves at the same time. We have extraordinary tools at our disposal and we make bad use of them.”
Youth on the island included. By the way, do you have children?
«I have children and I have already seen them face the seas, which are, unfortunately, not the prerogative of adulthood. Some young people are overwhelmed, others struggle, others resist. We parents have the thankless role of assisting and hoping that everyone finds their own way to stay afloat. This vision of mine is well outlined in Liten’s youth, kids resigned to immobility, rebellious or determined to create change, where everything seems to remain the same.”
Is there room for love on Liten?
«I have never given much space to love stories in my writings. But love is, for all intents and purposes, the prime mover and the cement that holds Liten together. There are many forms in which it expresses itself, some visceral, others deviant, others still almost untraceable, but it is everywhere. Each character will have at least one opportunity to try it and practice it, and if they played their cards well, they could find salvation in it.”
And what is the sea, very present in your books, for you?
«A banal love for the winter sea, for the deserted beaches where you can stop and listen to it, for the primordial strength that it releases in certain areas of Sicily and Calabria. I have never treated it as an element of the landscape and I never will: my sea is a protagonist.”