Jörgen Forsberg is one of the Grand Old Men of the famous SF-bokhandeln (which recently opened in also Malmö in addition to the already established shops in Stockhom and Göteborg); also its CEO. He is presented here by Ylva Spångberg.
It was in the middle of the 90’s that I got to know Jörgen Forsberg, when Science Fiction-bokhandelns (the Science Fiction Bookshop) moved out of a dark cellar in a small backstreet in Stockholm to a slightly less dark on street level, but still at an address which took more than a little devotion to find. At the time, in 1985, the transformation of the mail-order business to a real bookshop seemed like a very big step. I am still, 25 years later, impressed by the success of it all and particularly by Jörgen, who through it all has been one of the driving forces. But you can read about SF-bokhandeln elsewhere (albeit only in Swedish); this is about Jörgen.
Jörgen Forsberg is one of those quiet but indespensable background forces in Swedish science fiction fandom. He was always there, but he never was one to make noises. He goes to pub meetings, he goes to conventions, he doesn’t talk much but thinks the more. Often what he thinks is very funny, so it’s worth waiting for.
Besides, he is very knowledgeable in many areas, something about which he obviously does not feel any need to brag. But try him – talk about literature with Jörgen, or jazz, opera, art, classical music, film, history… the list can be made very long. His education is within the technical domain, before SF-bokhandeln he used to work in the IT business, but deep down he is a humanist with a never failing appetite for matters cultural.
I gives me great pleasure to welcome Jörgen as an Imagicon Guest of Honor!