Ulla-Lena Lundberg
Encyclopedia
Ulla-Lena Lundberg is a Finland-Swedish author living in Porvoo
, Finland
. Her Swedish language
books have been translated into several languages, including Finnish
, Danish
, German
, Russian
and Dutch
.
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 Kökar, 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 Kungens Anna and Ingens Anna.
She would write extensively about Africa
(the fictional Tre afrikanska berättelser, Sand and Regn and the factual Öar i Afrikas inre), having lived for two years in the African nations of Botswana
, Zambia
, Kenya
and Tanzania
.
After obtaining her Master's degree
in 1985 from Åbo Akademi University
, Lundberg spent the academic year of 1986 - 1987 as a lecturer and writer in residence at the University of Minnesota
. 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 Sibirien, which, in addition to being an autobiography
, is an account of four month-long stays in Siberia
. This has been the most internationally successful of her books.
Among her other works, the most notable include the acclaimed seafaring trilogy of Leo, Stora världen and Allt man kan önska sig, a series of fact-based, fictional novels detailing the history and evolution of shipping
in Åland/Finland
.
She has received numerous awards for her writing, including Runebergspriset and the prize for Finnish authors awarded by the Swedish Academy
. She has been nominated three times for Finland's top literary award the Finlandia award. 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.
Ulla-Lena Lundberg is featured on a stamp issued on 21 March 2009 by the postal authority of the Åland Islands
. The stamp, by the artist Juha Pykäläinen, 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
and a stamp featuring Valdemar Nyman.
Åland Post autumn 2008 stamp information pdf leaflet pages 16 to 20 about the Åland Authors booklet
Porvoo
Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. Her Swedish language
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
books have been translated into several languages, including Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
.
Biography
Lundberg made her debut at age 15 with the poetry anthology Utgångspunkt in 1962. In 1964, she spent some time in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
. She subsequently wrote of her experiences in the US. Lundberg also wrote a book about Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
after living there in 1968.
Her breakthrough is generally considered to be the 1976 book Kökar, 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 Kungens Anna and Ingens Anna.
She would write extensively about Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
(the fictional Tre afrikanska berättelser, Sand and Regn and the factual Öar i Afrikas inre), having lived for two years in the African nations of Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.
After obtaining her Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1985 from Åbo Akademi University
Åbo Akademi University
Åbo Akademi University is a Swedish language university in Turku, Finland . , there are 7 941 students and a staff consisting of 1125 people. The university has activities not only in Turku, but also in Vaasa, Jakobstad, Helsinki and on Åland...
, Lundberg spent the academic year of 1986 - 1987 as a lecturer and writer in residence at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. 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 Sibirien, which, in addition to being an autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, is an account of four month-long stays in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. This has been the most internationally successful of her books.
Among her other works, the most notable include the acclaimed seafaring trilogy of Leo, Stora världen and Allt man kan önska sig, a series of fact-based, fictional novels detailing the history and evolution of shipping
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
in Åland/Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
She has received numerous awards for her writing, including Runebergspriset and the prize for Finnish authors awarded by the Swedish Academy
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
. She has been nominated three times for Finland's top literary award the Finlandia award. 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.
Ulla-Lena Lundberg is featured on a stamp issued on 21 March 2009 by the postal authority of the Åland Islands
Åland Islands
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...
. The stamp, by the artist Juha Pykäläinen, 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 Blomqvist
Anni Viktoria Karlsson was a Finland-Swedish novelist.-Biography:Blomqvist was the first of ten children of fisherman Viktor Karlsson and wife Anna...
and a stamp featuring Valdemar Nyman.
As author
- Utgångspunkt (1962) (poetry)
- Strövtåg (1966) (travel)
- En berättelse om gränser (1968) (travel)
- Gaijin-utlänning i Japan (1970) (travel)
- När barometern stod på Karl Öberg och andra hörspel (1974) (radio theater)
- Kökar (1976) (factual)
- Tre afrikanska berättelser (1977) (novella anthology)
- Öar i Afrikas inre (1981) (anthropology)
- Kungens Anna (1982) (novel)
- Ingens Anna (1984) (novel)
- Franciskus i Kökar (1985) (master's thesis)
- Sand (1986) (novel)
- Leo (1989) (novel)
- Stora världen (1991) (novel)
- Sibirien (1993) (travel)
- Allt kan man önska sig (1995) (novel)
- Regn (1997) (novel)
- Marsipansoldaten (2001) (novel)
- Människan och målaren (2005) (biography of Åke Hellman, co-authored by Erik Kruskopf)
- Hundra År i Gammelgård (2006) (history of a Gammelgård's social club in Esbo, co-authored by Lasse Hoffman and Unni Malmgren)
As editor
- Vackre Alen. Memoarer av Algot Lundberg. (1981) (autobiography of Algot Lundberg)
- Männen som kom från havet. Jakthistorier från Kökar (2000)
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 Interview with Ulla-Lena Lundberg Entry for Lundberg on the website of Finnish publisher GummerusGummerus
Gummerus Oy is a Finnish media group that was founded in Jyväskylä in 1872 by Kaarle Jaakko Gummerus. In 1985, it moved its headquarters from Jyväskylä to Helsinki. In 2008, it had an annual turnover of EUR 26,9 million...
Åland Post autumn 2008 stamp information pdf leaflet pages 16 to 20 about the Åland Authors booklet