Frank Heller Explained

Frank Heller was the pen name of the Swedish writer Gunnar Serner (20 July 1886 - 14 October 1947), (aged 61). He wrote novels and short adventure stories in the genres crime fiction and science fiction.^[1] His most well-known tales involve shady business transactions in an international milieu. His best known works concerned the recurring character Philip Collin, who was simultaneously a detective and a thief.

Personal life

Heller received a PhD in English literature at the age of 23 from the University of Lund. He accumulated a lot of debt which he attempted to cover with forged checks.^[2] He was forced to flee Sweden in 1912 due to this role in bank fraud. Living abroad, he began writing novels to make a living, producing forty-three novels, short stories and travelogues before he died in 1947 in a bicycle accident.^[3] Heller was the uncle of the actor Håkan Serner.

Reception

In the early decades of the 20th century, Heller was "one of Sweden’s most widely read and translated authors," translated most often into German, Finnish, English and Russian.^{[4] [5]}

In 1981, The Swedish newspaper Kvällsposten founded the Frank Heller Prize awarded to an author who produced a significant work in the spirit of Frank Heller that reflects his excitement, humor and sense of language.^[6]

Bibliography

• The Spirits and Furustolpe (Swedish title: Andarna och Furustolpe), 1920
• The Emperor's Old Clothes, 1923 New York (also published as The Chinese Coats, London 1924) translated by Robert Emmons Lee (1888-1925)^[7]
• The Marriage of Yussuf Khan, 1923, Crowell New York, Hutchinson & Co London 1924, translated by Robert Emmons Lee (1888-1925)
• The Grand Duke's Finances, translated by Robert Emmons Lee (1888-1925)

(on which Murnau's film The Grand Duke's Finances (German: Die Finanzen des Großherzogs) was based)

• The Perilous Transactions of Mr. Collin, 1924, likely the same as:
• The London Adventures of Mr. Collin, 1923, translated by Pauline Chary
  • Collection of the following short stories:^[8]
  • The story of the absent-minded gentleman
  • The sorrowful adventures of Mr. Isaacs
  • The mystery of the lost bullion
  • Mr. Collin becomes a landlord
  • Mr. Collin's holiday agency
  • The Blue-eyed lie
• Mr. Collin is Ruined, 1925
• The Strange Adventures of Mr. Collin, Crowell New York 1926
• The Thousand and Second Night, An Arabesque. Williams & Norgate, London, 1926, translated by Robert Emmons Lee (1888-1925)
• Lead Me into Temptation, Crowell New York 1927, translated by Robert Emmons Lee (1888-1925)
• Twilight of the Gladiators, 1944

Notes and References

1. Hedman, Dag. 2020. Playing With Esotericism. Frank Heller’s Novel Andarna och Furustolpe (The Spirits and Furustolpe) and His Short Stories on Séances. LIR. journal (12). 75–88.
2. Frank Heller and England. Anglo-Swedish Society. https://www.angloswedishsociety.org.uk/frank-heller-and-england/
3. Kabaty Press. About the Author. https://www.kabatypress.com/borj
4. Katarina Bernhardsson, "Nordic Studies:Swedish Literature". The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies, Vol. 75 (2015) p. 557.
5. Kerstin Bergman, 2014. Swedish Crime Fiction: The Making of Nordic Noir. Mimesis International.
6. Mitzi M. Brunsdale. Introduction. The Grand Duke's Last Chance: A Scandinavian Mystery Classic. By Frank Heller. 2022. Kabaty Press.
7. News: EDWARD HOYT DIES; LEATHER PIONEER; Former President of Central Company Began His Career as a Tanner. A NATIVE NEW YORKER Served as Director of National Park Bank for 37 Years -- Member of Many Clubs . The New York Times .
8. https://www.worldcat.org/title/london-adventures-of-mr-collin/oclc/1455680