I think my Wallander stories give a fairly good image of the world in the 1990s. I don't regret anything about that - on the contrary!

It’s only when we can work with something that brings out our strengths that we’re of any real use.

Africa was the most exotic place I could conceive of - the end of the world - and I knew I would go there one day.

I am a very radical person - as radical now as I was when I was younger. So my books all have in common my search for understanding of the terrible world we are living in and ways to change it.

Go to Mozambique! As long as you don't expect to find flawless infrastructure, just go. Because this is a country where people have not quite grown accustomed to tourists. You still feel a genuineness that no longer exists in countries where tourism has been industrially developed.

They pondered the importance of coffee in silence.

Society had grown cruel. People who felt they were unwanted or unwelcome in their own country, reacted with aggression. There was no such thing as meaningless violence. Every violent act had a meaning for the person who committed it. Only when you dared accept this truth could you hope to turn society in another direction.