Anna-Karin Palm
Anna-Karin Palm | |
|---|---|
 Palm in 2019 | |
| Born | 17 March 1961 Stockholm,Sweden |
| Alma mater | Stockholm University |
| Occupation(s) | Author, culture writer |
| Member of the Swedish Academy (Seat No. 16) | |
| Assumed office 20 December 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Kjell Espmark |
Anna-Karin Palm(born 17 March 1961) is a Swedish author and multiple award winner for culture writing. In May 2023, Palm was appointed to theSwedish Academyas a new member on chair number 16, assuming this position on 20 December 2023.[1][2]
Background
[edit]Palm grew up in Stockholm with a half-brother and a sister. Her mother trained as a doctor and her father studied engineering at Hermods.
After twelve years at the Waldorf school, Palm continued atStockholm Universitywith literature, philosophy and English and began PhD studies in literature atUppsala University.[3][4]For a time she was part of the editorial staff for80s /90s,a Swedish literary magazine, and debuted in 1991 with her first novelFaunen.She has also worked, among other things, as a postal worker, cashier and reader of books for the visually impaired.[4]Her sources of inspiration come from pictures, fairy tales, landscapes, literature and music.[5]
Authorship
[edit]Palm was first published inNovella 85,an anthology featuring contributions by debut authors. Then came another short story (1989) in the magazine 80s. Her debut novelFaunenreceived a very positive reception.[4][5]This was followed by several novels and collections of short stories, children's books and essays. Anna-Karin Palm had her big breakthrough with the novelMålarens dötterr,1997. It is about Maria and her brother who travel to England to search for their missing father who is an artist; the present-day story is connected with the story of Laura, who lived in England 100 years earlier with her father who was a painter. The book is a story about artistic freedom and female identity.[3]
In 1999, both the picture bookWild Winterwas published, with illustrations byAnna Bengtsson,as well as the prose bookPlayground,which Palm has described as a collection of more or less false, autobiographical anecdotes.
In 2001, the short story collectionInto the desertcame out - about short stories inspired by travels in the Middle East and Greece.
Herrgården(2005) is a novel where the story revolves around some people on the run. They flee a country stricken with civil war, villages lie in ruins, and the mansion they come to becomes their salvation. They get a room and work with the woman who owns the manor. The protagonist of the story is Ben, who takes advantage of the others' misfortune, he tells about the group's existence before, during and after the escape. Palm states that a short story in the collectionIn i öknen(2000) laid the foundation forHerrgården.Among the role models are Walter Ljungqvist andEyvind Johnson,as well asSelma LagerlöfandVirginia Woolf.[6]
The essay bookOn Friendship(2007) was written by Palm together with friend, writer and philosopher Kate Larson; they are associative, personally reflective texts around varying themes, and the form of dialogic essay was invented by the friends together.
The novelSnow Angel(2011) moves between a small French village in the 21st century and Stockholm in the winter of 1985–1986. Questions of memory, language, history and identity are important, where realism is combined with fairy tales and allows the distance between places and times to illuminate each other. Palm's texts are characterized by strong female subjects and an interest in the human interior. In the novels, there is often a strong epic drive, a preference for multiple timelines or narrative voices and a clear awareness of form.
The short story collectionHunting Luckfrom 2014 revolves around the female body and explores sexuality, motherhood, illness and aging in a series of short stories.Åsa Beckmanwrote inDagens Nyheterabout "a nice portrayal, where Palm shows how the characters get hurt in small and big ways because they didn't really include the body in their self".[7]
In 2019, Palm's biography of Selma Lagerlöf,I want to set the world in motion,was published. The book was nominated for theAugust Prizefor best non-fiction book,Dagens Nyheter'sculture prize and the non-fiction book of the year, and was awarded theLotten von Kraemerprize from theSociety of the Nine.[4]
In 2021,I write over your face,a book that describes how the author's mother falls ill withAlzheimer's diseasewas published. Palm talks here about her mother's life and her own upbringing, and reflects on memory, writing, class trips and family relationships.
Her short storyAgnes & Bettywas nominated in 2023 forSveriges Radio'sShort Story Award.[4]
In 2023, she was appointed to the Royal Swedish Academy to assume seat number 16, a lifetime position, that was vacated with the death of the writerKjell Espmark.[1]
Palm's books have been translated into English, German, Dutch, French, Norwegian, Danish, Spanish, Polish, Icelandic and more.[8]
Family
[edit]Palm is married and has a daughter.[citation needed]
Selected awards and honors
[edit]- 1993 – Albert Bonnier's scholarship fund for younger and newer writers
- 1998 –Society De NiosSpecial Prize
- 2015 – De Nios Winter Prize
- 2019 – Lotten von Kræmer prize
- 2022 –Dobloug Prize[9]
- 2023 – Lifetime appointment to the Royal Swedish Academy[1]
References
[edit]- ^abc"Nya ledamöter i Svenska Akademien".www.svenskaakademien.se(in Swedish).Retrieved2023-11-12.
- ^"Nationalmuseum - Anna-Karin Palm".collection.nationalmuseum.se.Retrieved2023-11-12.
- ^ab"Palm, Anna-Karin".Nordic Women's Literature.Retrieved2023-11-12.
- ^abcde"Anna-Karin Palm".Albert Bonniers Förlag.Retrieved2023-11-12.
- ^abCo, Peytz & (2012-02-23)."The Emptied Tales Created Anew".Nordic Women's Literature.Retrieved2023-11-12.
- ^Karlsson, Lena S. (2007). Life dream poem. page 299. ISBN 9789173310734
- ^"Åsa Beckman: Frågan är om vi inte alltid längtar efter att kropp och hjärna blir ett".Dagens Nyheter(in Swedish). 2014-11-23.ISSN1101-2447.Retrieved2023-11-12.
- ^"LIBRIS - sökning: palm, anna-karin".libris.kb.se(in Swedish).Retrieved2023-11-12.
- ^"Doblougprisen".Store norske leksikon(in Norwegian). 2023-09-03.Retrieved2023-11-12.
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