Bodil Malmsten (19 August 1944 – 5 February 2016) was a Swedish poet and novelist. Malmsten was born in Bjärme, Östersund Municipality. Due to her parents' early separation, she grew up at her maternal grandparents and at

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family mem ...

in Vällingby,

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Her paternal grandfather was designer and architect

Carl Malmsten Carl Malmsten (December 7, 1888 – August 13, 1972) was a Sweden, Swedish furniture designer, architect, and educator who was known for his devotion to traditional Swedish craftmanship (''slöjd'') and his opposition to Functionalism (architec ...

. She debuted as author in 1970 together with Peter Csihas (1945–2011) with their children's book ''Ludvig åker''. Csihas and Malmsten had a relationship during the 1960s and 70s and have a daughter,

Stefania ''Stefania'' is a genus of frogs in the family Hemiphractidae. They are native to the highlands of the Guiana Shield in southern Venezuela, Guyana, and adjacent far northern Brazil. Most are restricted to the tepui highlands, but '' S. evansi'' ...

, born 1967, who is designer and actor. The English translation of her novel, ''Priset på vatten i Finistère'' (''The Price of Water in Finistère'', translated by Frank Perry), was selected as a ''Book of the Week'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. In the novel, having decided to pack up and leave her country of birth, she recounts the story her settling into her new home in the

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'', in Brittany. It is told in a series of

vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

s about gardening, learning the language, dealing with French

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

, and struggling with

writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

. She was awarded a doctorate ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

ad gradum'' (

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

) by the Faculty of Human Sciences at the Mid-Sweden University in

Östersund Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...

in 2006. Malmsten died of cancer at her home in

on 5 February 2016, aged 71.

Published works

*Dvärgen Gustaf (1977) *Damen, det brinner! (1984) *Paddan & branden (1987) *B-ställningar (1987) *Svartvita bilder (1988) *Nåd & onåd Idioternas bok (1989) *Nefertiti i Berlin (1990) *Landet utan lov (1991) *Det är ingen ordning på mina papper (1991) *Inte med den eld jag har nu : dikt för annan dam (1993) *Den dagen kastanjerna slår ut är jag långt härifrån (1994) *Nästa som rör mig (1996) — ''The next one who touches me'' *Undergångarens sånger (1998) *Priset på vatten i Finistère (2001) (published in English as ''The Price of Water in Finistère'' ) *Det är fortfarande ingen ordning på mina papper (2003) * Kom och hälsa på mig om tusen år (2007) *Det här är hjärtat (2015) *Loggböckerna 2005–2013 (2016)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malmsten, Bodil 1944 births 2016 deaths People from Östersund Municipality Writers from Jämtland County Swedish-language poets Litteris et Artibus recipients Swedish women poets Swedish women novelists 20th-century Swedish novelists 20th-century Swedish poets 21st-century Swedish novelists 21st-century Swedish poets 20th-century Swedish women writers 21st-century Swedish women writers

Published works

References

Further reading

External links