Maj Sjöwall was awarded the 2013 Lenin Award with the following justification:
“With their broad, classic depiction of a Sweden in transition, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö with unique artistic awareness and sociological clarity have shown how the crime is born out of our society, that the criminal act is a symptom and the criminal himself a victim. Sjöwall/Wahlöös police novels have renewed a whole genre and inspired new generations of socially critical writers, who in turn have conquered a whole world.”
