Barbro Lindgren author page

Barbro Lindgren biography

Barbro Lindgren is a Swedish author and illustrator whose work includes children’s picture books, poetry, plays, novels for young adults and books for adults. She trained in the visual arts and made her publishing debut in 1965 with Mattias sommar (Mattias’ Summer), which she wrote and illustrated. Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages.

Her early publications include Loranga, Masarin och Dartanjang (1969), an absurdist children’s novel featuring an unconventional family, and its sequel, Loranga, Loranga (1970). During the 1970s, she also published the autobiographical trilogy Jättehemligt, Världshemligt and Bladen brinner, written in diary form and exploring childhood and adolescence.

Lindgren began a long collaboration with illustrator Eva Eriksson on The Story of the Little Old Man, first published in Swedish in 1979. They subsequently worked together on The Wild Baby (1980) and its sequels, which follow the adventures of an energetic young child. Their picture book series about Max began in 1981 with Max bil, Max kaka and Max nalle. English-language editions of the series have appeared under both the Max and Sam names, including Sam’s Car, Sam’s Biscuit and Max’s Bear. Gecko Press published English-language board book editions illustrated by Eriksson and translated by Julia Marshall.

Other collaborations include three picture books about a young pig named Benny, illustrated by Olof Landström, beginning with Benny’s Had Enough!. Lindgren has also written children’s poetry, including the 1974 collection Gröngölingen är på väg, illustrated by Katarina Olausson Säll.

Lindgren was a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Author Award in 2004. In 2014, she received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international children’s literature prize recognising a lifetime contribution to literature for children and young people. She was the first Swedish recipient of the award.