Maria Octavia Carlén (22 November 1828 – 30 January 1881) was a Swedish writer.

Life

Octavia Carlén was born on 22 November 1828 in

Skara Skara is a locality and the seat of Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 18,580 inhabitants in 2013. Despite its small size, it is one of the oldest cities in Sweden, and has a long educational and ecclesiastical history. O ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. She was the daughter of Carl Gabriel Carlén, an official, and his wife, Maria Carlén (née Mathesius). Carlén had two older brothers: Johan Gabriel and Richard, both became involved in literary circles. Richard's wife Emilie Flygare was also a writer. Thanks to her brothers, Carlén turned to writing at an early age. Through her father's friend and vicar, J. Stalin, Carlén developed an interest in historical productions. Her writings encompass both popular history and fictional narratives. Commentators have attempted to identify the antecedents of her writings. The oldest available information, dating back to 1857, is a four-page long homage to the duchess of

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

. A complimentary address to royalty, it shows her efforts to make a place for herself in the middle-class society. Her works have often been known to resemble those of

Wilhelmina Stålberg Carolina Wilhelmina Stålberg (26 November 1803, Stockholm – 23 July 1872, Mariefred) was a Swedish writer, poet, translator, and lyricist. She worked under the pseudonym "Wilhelmina". Selected works References Sources *Krook, Axel (1872 ...

. Carlén wrote for several publications such as ''Freja'', ''Linnea'', ''Norden'', ''Svea'', ''Vinterblommor'', and ''Violblomman''. Her first work of fiction, ''Ny och nedan, poemer och noveller'', was published in 1859. Two more works followed in the period 1861–1879: ''Fem noveller'' and ''Poemer och noveller''. During this time, she also turned her attention to historical fiction. Historical attractions became a frequent subject matter in her works, and she acknowledged their importance in her writings. In 1859, Carlén published a compilation of the Royal Armoury's collections. She followed it with another collection two years later, where she described the

Drottningholm Palace Drottningholm Palace (), or Drottningholm, one of Sweden's royal palaces, situated near Sweden's capital Stockholm, is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. Located on Lovön island in Stockholm County's Ekerö Municipalit ...

. Other examples include

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

and its monuments, the

Ulriksdal Ulriksdal Palace () is a royal palace situated on the banks of the Edsviken in the Royal National City Park in Solna Municipality, 6 km north of Stockholm. It was originally called ''Jakobsdal'' for its owner Jacob De la Gardie, who had i ...

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 ...

, and Tullgarn palaces, and a portrait collection from

Gripsholm Gripsholm Castle () is a castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden. It is located by lake Mälaren in south central Sweden, in the municipality of Strängnäs, about 60 km west of Stockholm. Since Gustav I Vasa, Gripsholm has belonged to ...

. In 1866, she published a travel guide for a newly opened railway line from Stockholm to

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

. She also wrote about her 1969 trip to

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

in another publication. Carlén was also known to collaborate with other contemporary writers such as

Marie Sophie Schwartz Marie Sophie Schwartz née Birath (4 July 1819 – 7 May 1894), was a Swedish writer. She has since been referred to as the most successful female writers of the late 19th-century in Sweden. Life Marie Sophie Schwartz was born in Borås and was ...

and . Carlén died in Stockholm, on 30 January 1881.

Life

References

Further reading