{{Short description|Swedish writer, translator and theologian}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL}} '''Ola Wikander''' (born 8 October 1981) is a Swedish writer, translator and theologian.
== Contributions == He has written the book ''I döda språks sällskap'' (2006), which is about extinct languages, translations, and among other things, the Babylonian creation story of Enûma Eliš. In May 2008 came his first novel, ''Poeten och cirkelmakaren'', which he has written with his father Örjan Wikander.
Wikander's review of the history of Proto-Indo-European language (2008) has been well received by reviewers in both ''Svenska Dagbladet''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/litteratur/artikel_1683083.svd|title=Språket som nyckel till glömda kulturer|author=Lars Lönnroth|date=2008-09-08}}</ref> and ''Dagens Nyheter''.<ref>Dan Jönsson (2008-11-22), "Språkets kodknäckare", DN.</ref> In 2010, Ola Wikander received the Clio Prize. Price motivation sounded "for their commitment to extinct languages and the keys that their vocabulary and development provide to our oldest cultural history".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.clio.se/cliopristagare/ola_wikander.html |title="Priset 2010 till Ola Wikander" |access-date=2020-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226001057/http://www.clio.se/cliopristagare/ola_wikander.html |archive-date=2015-02-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/mastare-pa-utdoda-sprak_5423957.svd "Mästare på utdöda språk"], SvD 2010-09-30</ref>
== Education == In June 2012, Wikander defended his doctorate for theology in the subject of the Old Testament exegesis at the Centrum för teologi och religionsvetenskap (Center for Theology and Religious Studies) at Lund
Since then he held a series of short-term academic positions in Sweden and the UK until he was appointed Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Person |url=https://www.ctr.lu.se/en/person/OlaWikander/ |access-date=2026-03-06 |website=www.ctr.lu.se |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=OLA WIKANDER |url=https://ola-wikander-eng.se/ |access-date=2026-03-06 |website=OLA WIKANDER |language=sv}}</ref> In 2018–2019, Wikander was a Residential Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala, Sweden, as part of the Pro Futura Scientia Program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Former Fellows SCAS |url=https://www.swedishcollegium.se/fellows/former-fellows/all-former-fellows }}</ref>
== Notable Publications == *2003 – ''Kanaaneiska myter och legender'' *2005 – ''Enuma elish: det babyloniska skapelseeposet'' *2006 – ''I döda språks sällskap: en bok om väldigt gamla språk'' *2008 – ''De kaldeiska oraklen'' *2008 – ''Poeten och cirkelmakaren'' *2008 – ''Ett träd med vida grenar: de indoeuropeiska språkens historia'' *2010 – ''Orden och evigheten'' *2012 – ''Drought, Death and the Sun in Ugarit and Ancient Israel'' (academic monograph) *2012 – ''Serafers drömmar'' *2014 – ''Gud är ett verb – tankar om Gamla testamentet och dess idéhistoria'' *2015 – ''Den trettonde funktionen'' *2017 – ''Unburning Fame: Horses, Dragons, Beings of Smoke, and Other Indo-European Motifs in Ugarit and the Hebrew Bible'' (academic monograph)
Wikander has also published many articles for researchers and the public and runs two blogs, since 2008 in Swedish at ''Ur språkens tunnlar''<ref name=":0" /> and between 2008 and 2011 in English at ''Dead Tongues Whispering''<ref name=":1" />
== Prizes and awards == *2005 – Letterstedtska award for the translation of Canaanite myths and legends *2006 – August Prize *2009 – Zibetsk Prize *2010 – The Clio Prize
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wikander, Ola}} Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Swedish writers Category:Swedish historians of religion Category:Academic staff of Lund University Category:Swedish-language writers Category:Swedish translators Category:21st-century Swedish writers