The Story of My Bagatelles
I’m Jörgen Löwenfeldt, a Stockholm-based author, journalist and generalist who works at the Nordic Museum collecting stories of contemporary life. That is, when I’m not flexing my graphomaniac tendencies.
I have chosen the word bagatelles to describe my short fiction because it reminds me of their musical counterpart: short, unpretentious piano pieces. My way of writing definitely has something in common with playing freely across the keyboard.
These, often surreal, stories of trifles form the core of The Bagatelles, but here I also share essays, short stories and full-length novels. To access everything, you’ll need a password, which is provided to paid subscribers.
Earlier in my writing life, I published the novel Ensamma tillsammans/Alone Together and the short-story podcast series Människor som går iväg/People Who Walk Away. On Substack, I’ve shared the novels Zenopolis, Bardo Noir and The Last Siamese with paying subscribers.
In my private life, I share my home with my family, hundreds of plants (a number constantly growing) and a personal library of thousands of books (see previous parenthesis). Being an intensely curious person, my interests tend to wander quite a bit, ranging from Eastern European literature, strange maps, the concept of time, bizarre history, dromomania and the fern craze to parallel universes and the world of Marcel Proust.
The Bagatelles is the node where everything that is me comes together.
Contact:
• My website: jorgenlowenfeldt.se (English)
• The Bagatelles website and archive
• You can also email me.
Become a patron of the arts
Contribute $5/month, or $2.50/month with the annual option. Your support helps me keep writing and publishing independently. As a thank you, patrons also get access to all my long-form writing, including complete novels.
Become a paid subscriber ↗“An intriguing glimpse of what a truly independent author might look like”
– Carlo Carrenho, Publishing Perspectives.
Since its launch in February 2025, The Bagatelles has attracted over 5,000 subscribers from more than 115 countries. My writing and literary experiments have been mentioned in Literary Hub, Compact Magazine and Publishing Perspectives. I’ve also been interviewed by Boktugg (English version) and featured in The Curious George Questionnaire.
In October 2026, The Bagatelles won gold for Best Creative Newsletter at Sweden’s Inbox Awards.
What readers say
Kristine Benoit de Bykhovetz: “Enigmatic little stories that stay with you long after you’ve finished. I save them for quiet moments, with something good to drink at hand.”
Alexandra Sarafidou: “Jörgen Löwenfeldt is on my personal list of ‘Why joining Substack was worth it.’ He’s also one of the best authors I’ve read, on Substack or elsewhere.”
Lisa Maguire: “Very short form fiction is an ideal way to get back into fiction for ‘broken readers’ – people who once read novels and had their attention span shredded by the internet.”
Rachel Wildavsky: “Quirky and consistently intriguing, without descending into shock value, like everyone else does.”
Where to begin
1. Listen to a secret pianist (in this dispatch I also explain the history of The Bagatelles):
2. Real stories from everyday life:
3. The list for living:
What about you?
I’d like to understand a little better who’s reading my dispatches. Help me by filling in this form.