Born in 1945, Swedish writer and journalist Richard Swartz has lived in Vienna since 1976. For many years he worked as the East European correspondent for the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet and as a regular contributor toFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Süddeutschde Zeitung. Since 2009, his columns have featured in the op-ed pages ofDagens Nyheter. He has also published several books, including Room Service: an anthology of articles, which has been translated into several languages.