Wild Boar

Submitted: 16th October 2025

Wild Boar

Translated fiction from The Emma Press . Off to Sweden we go! Translated by Andy Turner.

A short novella about a group of people moving to the Swedish forests to look after the boars there.

Map of locations in Wild Boar

What are the themes of the novel?

Animals and people, their places in a changing ecosystem, and their capacities to grow and to destroy.

Key quote:

“I have seen them, the wild boar, they have found their way into my dreams!”

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Ritve travels from Finland to the forests in Sweden to track the wild boars of the title. Meanwhile Glenn has them wander onto his land in the middle of the night. finally, Mia wants her grandfathers memories of these creatures to be recorded. These three people come together in unexpected ways.

First person POV and a strong sense of place were two things that really struck me with this novella. Short and sweet with pinches of darkness and introspection. There’s not much plot but this is a quiet story that haunts you.

I would have liked to have seen more of the boars. But what they represent, what they hide, are the things to watch, rather than seek out the animals themselves.