Athena Farrokhzad

In 2013, Farrokhzad published a collection of poems titled Vitsvit (White Blight) with Albert Bonniers Förlag. The same year, her translation into Swedish of work by the Romanian poet Svetlana Cârstean appeared, and she made her debut as a playwright with Päron, which was performed by the youth section of Östgötateatern (the county theatre of Östergötland), directed by Kajsa Isakson. "White Blight", Jennifer Hayashida's translation of "Vitsvit," was published by Argos Books in 2015. It was shortlisted for the 2016 National Translation Awards (NTA) in Poetry, named one of Boston Globe's best poetry books of 2016, and reviews appeared in Slate, the Rumpus, Kenyon Review, and the Southeast Review. As of 2018, Vitsvit has been translated into 12 languages. Vitsvit has been adapted into a theatre play on two occasions; one production by Unga Klara theatre company directed by Farnaz Arbabi, and one by the Swedish Radio Theatre, directed by Saga Gärde. Farrokhzad has published two poetry anthologies, Manualen with Tova Gerge and Ett tunt underlag with the poetry group G=T=B=R=G, both in 2009. She edited the queer poetry anthology Omslag with Linn Hansén and has organized literary events such as Queerlitt, Demafor and World Poetry Day. She is also a literature critic for the newspaper Aftonbladet.

Vitsvit was nominated for the 2013 August Prize in the literature category, for the Borås Tidnings debutantpris (a prize for new authors), and the Catapult Prize of the Swedish Writers' Union. Farrokhzad was joint winner of the Karin Boye Literary Prize in 2013 and in 2014 won the Stora Läsarpriset (Grand Reader's Prize).