Interview with Julius Olofsson

By Sebastian Vice & Julius Olofsson

Tell our readers about yourself?

I'm Julius, born and raised in Sweden. I grew up in Hjo (pronounced "you"), a super small town, but now living in Stockholm. I loved film as a kid and still do, and I loved making up stories, but being a writer of books wasn't a thing. The plan was to write screenplays, but soon I realized that writing books and short stories came with much more freedom. And now, here I am...

Tell us about your latest work Moebler

I recently debuted with "Moebler", my first book! It's a chapbook-ish collection consisting of four stories that all tie together. In Sweden, chapbooks are almost non-existent, and upon learning more, I wanted to give it a go. Also, I felt I didn't want to chuck some old stories together but rather write something specific where everything connects. "Moebler" is about loneliness, identity, home, and many other things. Almost all my stories' themes identity, and no matter what I do, it seeps in between the pages. I began writing it in August, and by December, I was done, and I think it was late February when I signed with Anxiety Press, who published it in May!

What, and who, are your sources of inspiration?

Real people! Always real people and reality, but only to a certain degree! I love using stereotypes as a stepping stone but then skewing and twisting them. My ideas usually hold bits of the odd and surreal, so that's usually how my ideas begin; something tiny that then grows. For inspirational works, I think movies like "Under The Silver Lake" or "Primer" do the trick or Lars von Trier. But I don't always find that other works of art need to sync with me, more just feeling that "Hey, this is some cool shit!". Like Max Porter; his books are excellent, but it's not really what I do.

Have any wild stories you care to share?

Not sure; there are oodles of weirdness, but not sure which one to pick or if it holds up to wild-enough-standards.

Care to drop some writing wisdom?

For writing wisdom, maybe it's "trust the process". I've gone through plenty of angst and worry, all unnecessary, so just trust yourself. Also, don't seclude yourself as I have done. It was first when I reached out and found supporting friends and those who could read my stories that I got somewhere with my writing. Finally, be pragmatic (but maybe that goes for all of life!).

My website: http://www.juliusolofsson.com

Where to find the book "Moebler": https://linktr.ee/juliusolofsson

My Twitter: @PaperBlurt

Moebler