April 12th, 2014 it was time for Jan Guillou to receive his Lenin Award and Eija Hetekivi Olsson the Robespierre Prize. Varberg Theatre was once again packed for the annual event when Lasse Diding welcomed everybody from the stage. Jan Myrdal presented the awards and also spoke to the laureates. Cecilia Cervin, literary scholar and chairman of the Jan Myrdal Society introduced the laureates.
Photo: Håkan Johansson / HN
Both award-winners appeared on stage. Jan Guillou said in his acceptance speech that he rarely receives such fine prizes and that the prize money in its entirety would be donated to the Palestinian freedom struggle. Winner of the Robespierre Prize, Eija Hetekivi Olsson read a passage from her novel Ingenbarnsland, which deals with a dandelion kid’s upbringing in a Gothenburg suburb. The music entertainment this year was the duo Kreti och Pleti from örnsköldsvik, consisting of Fredrik Jonsson and Mattias Hamberg.
After the award ceremony, it was as usual the annual general meeting of the Jan Myrdal Society at the theatre and there was also a tour of the Jan Myrdal Library for interested members. Although everything was not finished, visitors got a good idea of the size and character of the library.
In the evening there was the traditional party at Hotell Gästis. It was crowded and celebratory, with good conversation, good food, singing and dancing until late into the night. Of the previous award-winners, more than usual were unable to attend this year. Roy Andersson, however, was there and took active part in the evening’s sing-along. Among the party participants were also Per Gahrton, åsa Linderborg and accordion player Bernt Andersson, who performed at Hotell Gästis this year as well.
