Ulla-Lena Lundberg (born 14 July 1947,

Kökar Kökar () is an island municipality in the south-eastern part of the Åland archipelago, an autonomous region of Finland. It is accessible by ferry from Långnäs on Åland's main island and from Galtby on the Finnish mainland. Kökar has a ...

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

) is a

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author living in

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. Her

Swedish-language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the fourth most spoken Germanic language, and the first ...

books have been translated into several languages, including Finnish, Danish,

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and

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Biography

Lundberg made her debut at age 15 with the poetry anthology in 1962. In 1964, she spent some time in the United States on a scholarship. She subsequently wrote of her experiences in the US. Lundberg also wrote a book about Japan after living there in 1968. Her breakthrough is generally considered to be the 1976 book , a factual account of the past and present of her island of birth, told through the stories of some of the islanders. She would later write two novels about the fictional Kökar native ''Anna'' in and .
She would write extensively about Africa (the fictional , and and the factual ), having lived for two years in the African nations of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. After obtaining her Master's degree in 1985 from

Åbo Akademi University Åbo Akademi University ( , ) is the only exclusively Swedish language multi-faculty university in Finland (or anywhere outside Sweden). It is located mainly in Turku (Åbo is the Swedish name of the city) but has also activities in Vaasa. Å ...

, Lundberg spent the academic year of 1986–1987 as a lecturer and writer in residence at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. Save for this one year at the University of Minnesota, Lundberg has worked her entire professional life as an author and continues to do so. In 1993, Lundberg published , which, in addition to being an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, is an account of four-month-long stays in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. This has been the most internationally successful of her books. Among her other works, the most notable include the acclaimed seafaring trilogy of , and , a series of fact-based, fictional novels detailing the history and evolution of

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

. She has received numerous awards for her writing, including Runebergspriset and the prize for Finnish authors awarded by the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

. In 1993, Lundberg was awarded an honorary doctorate of arts by Åbo Akademi University. Between 1994 and 1999, Lundberg held the title

Professor of Arts Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

. She has been nominated three times for Finland's top literary award the

Finlandia Prize The Finlandia Prize (; ) is a set of Finnish literary prizes awarded by the Finnish Book Foundation to "celebrate reading and highlight new Finnish first-rate literature." Considered the most prestigious in the nation, they are awarded annually in ...

, and in 2012 she won the prize with the Swedish-language novel . Lundberg is featured on a stamp issued on 21 March 2009 by

Åland Post Åland Post is the company responsible for postal service in Åland. Åland Post has operated separately from the mainland postal service of Finland since 1993. Åland Post is a logistics enterprise with 170 employees. Turnover in 2023 was 36.9 ...

, the postal authority of Åland. The stamp, by the artist , is a portrait of Lundberg next to a depiction of the ship Leo, from the first book of her trilogy about Åland shipping. The stamp is part of a stamp booklet called Åland Authors, and also includes a stamp featuring

Anni Blomqvist Anni Viktoria Blomqvist (7 October 1909 – 26 June 1990), née ''Karlsson'', was a Finland-Swedish novelist.Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet (; ) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned throu ...

was the first to get permission to adapt it for the stage. The libretto follows the key events and characters of the rich novel, with music that rings with the changing seasons and the ever-present threat of ice.

Bibliography

As author

* (1962) (poetry) * (1966) (travel) * (1968) (travel) * (1970) (travel) * (1974) (radio theater) * (1976) (factual) * (1977) (novella anthology) * (1981) (anthropology) * (1982) (novel) * (1984) (novel) * (1985) (master's thesis) * (1986) (novel) * (1989) (novel) * (1991) (novel) * (1993) (travel) * (1995) (novel) * (1997) (novel) * (2001) (novel) * (2005) (biography of

Åke Hellman Åke Fredrik Hellman (19 July 1915 – 18 December 2017) was a Finland Swede, Swedish-speaking Finland, Finnish still life and portrait artist and art professor. He worked as art teacher at the University of Helsinki. In 1963, he received the orde ...

, co-authored by Erik Kruskopf) * (2006) (history of a Gammelgård's social club in

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, co-authored by Lasse Hoffman and Unni Malmgren) * (2012) (novel)

As editor

* (1981) (autobiography of Algot Lundberg) * (2000)

References

External links

* *
Biography of Ulla-Lena Lundberg, Library of Mariehamn, Åland
*
Complete bibliography of Lundberg, Library of Mariehamn, Åland
*
Interview with Ulla-Lena Lundberg, Dec. 2007
*

*
Entry for Lundberg
on the website of Finnish publisher

Gummerus Gummerus Oy is a Finnish media group that was founded in Jyväskylä in 1872 by Karl Jacob Gummerus. In 1985, it moved its headquarters from Jyväskylä to Helsinki. In 2008, it had an annual turnover of EUR 26,9 million. Annually, ...

*
Åland Post autumn 2008 stamp information pdf leaflet
pages 16 to 20 about the Åland Authors booklet {{DEFAULTSORT:Lundberg, Ulla-Lena 1947 births Living people People from Kökar Writers from Åland Finnish writers in Swedish Finnish women writers Swedish women writers Åbo Akademi University alumni University of Minnesota faculty Swedish-speaking Finns