MARIA EK
Beautiful portrayals of what it means to be human
Fiction
THE RATS
Rights and awards
Rights
Sweden
Maria Ek lives with her family in the rugged landscape of Roslagen, a couple of hours north of Stockholm. She is a trained ethnologist, working by day as a leadership and organisational consultant, and a writer by night. If she could, she would prefer to write every single day, and her best advice for budding authors is: to read, and then write, write, write.
Maria’s debut novel, The Rats, was published in August 2025, and has been met with excellent reviews praising it for its brilliant characters, bringing an evocative setting life and a unique storyline. The book delves into themes of loneliness, the search for human connection, and whether we can rewrite the story of our lives even as we are nearing old age, themes that come back again and again in Maria’s writing. The book is set in Roslagen, where Maria has lives with her family and her dog.
“I have some of my roots in Roslagen, as my parents have had a summer cottage there since the 1960s. I believe that being close to nature and the deep forests of Roslagen has shaped me as a person, and a writer”, Maria explains.
Maria often writes about relationships, both with other people and with oneself. Her characters tend to be a little broken, lost and searching, trying to find a way forward.
“There is something very interesting about what does not fit within the norm of a successful, prosperous and happy person. When you manage to find those characters who are invisible, unheard, who have ended up on the sidelines of everything, but who you discover actually have so much to tell. Then it can become magical”, Maria says.
Bibliography
2025 – The Rats (Råttpojken), novel
Author photo
Albin Händig. For photo rights please contact the photographer at or