Majken Johansson (August 7, 1930,

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

– December 11, 1993) was a Swedish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and a

Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

soldier. Majken Johansson was born

out of wedlock Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

, and spent her childhood in foster care with an abusive foster mother. At the age of 9, she was evacuated from Malmö at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and lived with relatives in

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

. Despite her difficult childhood she went through school with good grades and managed to get in at the prestigious

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

, where she graduated. During her teenage and university years she also suffered from

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

. In 1956, after a stormy relationship with another woman, which ended with the woman committing suicide, Majken Johansson suffered a life crisis which would lead to her decision to join the Swedish section of the

in 1958. She began to write in the early 1950s, both socially debating articles in newspapers, and poetry. Her first volume of poetry was the critically acclaimed ''Buskteater'' in 1952. She published 8 volumes of poetry between 1952 and 1989. Her poems are not only concerned with life, love and God, but also on everyday reflections in a very simple and keen way, often with a lot of humor. Her life partner was the Salvation Army officer and hymn writer Karin Hartman, who in 2002 published ''Bottenglädjen'', a book about Majken Johansson's life. In recent years Johansson's poetry has been published in new editions and gained a generation of new readers. She is today regarded as one of Sweden's greatest poets of the mid-20th century, alongside names such as

Hjalmar Gullberg Hjalmar Gullberg (30 May 1898 – 19 July 1961) was a Swedish poet and translator. Career Gullberg was born in Malmö, Scania. As a student at Lund University, he was the editor of the student magazine Lundagård. He was the manager of ...

and Werner Aspenström. In 1970 she was awarded the Large Prize by ''

Samfundet De Nio Samfundet De Nio (''The Nine Society'' or ''Society of the Nine'') is a Swedish literary society founded on 14 February 1913 in Stockholm by a testamentary donation from writer Lotten von Kraemer. The society has nine members who are elected for ...

''. She was also awarded a literary prize by the magazine ''Vi'' in 1958, the ''

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

s poetry award'' in 1965, the ''Deverthska kulturstiftelsens Forsethpris'' in 1972, and the ''

Sydsvenska Dagbladet ''Sydsvenska Dagbladet Snällposten'', generally known simply as ''Sydsvenskan'' (, ), is a daily newspaper published in Scania in Sweden. History and profile ''Sydsvenskan'' was founded in 1870. In 1871 the paper merged with ''Snällposten'' ...

s kulturpris'' in 1975.

References

Works

*''Buskteater'' (1952) *''I grund och botten'' (1956) *''Andens undanflykt'' (1958) *''Liksom överlämnad'' (1965) *''Omtal'' (1969) *''Från Magdala'' (1972) *''Söndagstankar'' (1978) *''Djup ropar till djup'' (1989) *''Dikter - Majken Johansson'' (Bonniers 2002; collected poems)

References

Works

Further reading