Crime writer of 'Wallander' series reveals cancer

The Swedish crime writer behind the "Wallander" series made into a high-rating British TV series revealed Wednesday he had cancer, and intended to write about it in a local newspaper. "My anxiety is very profound, although by and large I can keep it under control," Henning Mankell, 65, said on his website. Mankell's collection of novels featuring police inspector Kurt Wallander and set in southern Sweden brought the author international fame after it was made into a BBC television series starring Kenneth Branagh. The series started screening in 2008. The fourth and final season is to be filmed this year. Mankell said his cancer was discovered when he underwent treatment for a slipped disc. "A few days later... I had it in black and white: it was serious. I had one tumour in the back of my neck and one in my left lung. The cancer could also have spread to other parts of my body," he wrote. He said he intends to write occasional columns on his cancer experience in the west Swedish newspaper Goeteborgs-Posten. "At a very early stage I decided to try to write about this.... But I will do it from the perspective of life, not death." Mankell, a novelist and playwright who lives in Sweden and Mozambique, has published more than 20 novels and a dozen children's books.