Ola Wikander

Ola Wikander (born 1981) is a Swedish writer, translator and theologian.

Life and career Both his parents are antiquarians; as a child his father began teaching him Latin.

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 and Dagens Nyheter. 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".

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. 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.

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 and between 2008 and 2011 in English at Dead Tongues Whispering

Prizes and awards 2005 – Letterstedtska award for the translation of Canaanite myths and legends 2006 – August Prize 2009 – Zibetsk Prize 2010 – The Clio Prize