KERSTIN THORVALL

Awards

2004 – The Ivar Lo-Johansson Personal Prize
1994 – Moa Martinson Prize
1977 – The Astrid Lindgren Prize

Kerstin Thorvall (1925-2010) debuted as fiction literary author in 1959 with The Book For You, a handbook for young girls. During her long and successful authorship she wrote children’s, youth and adult novels. Throughout her authorship she worked as an illustrator of children’s books, own and others, and in weekly press.

Kerstin Thorvall’s adult books are characterized by ruthlessness and outrage, class consciousness and relationship issues, her prose is associative and drastic, pregnant and painterly. In her enormous production could be mentioned The Most Forbidden from 1976 in which she wrote about anxiety and obsession, happiness and humiliation and dared to deal with the holy mother discussion. She wrote about female passion as no one had done before. Her last work is the critically acclaimed trilogy: When They Shoot Workers, for which she was awarded the Moa Martinson Prize, In The Shadow of Unrest and and From Signe to Alberte – Loving and Desperately. The trilogy was published in 1999 and was called The Story of Signe.

Her last poetry collection, I am a green bench in Paris was released 2005.

Kerstin Thorvall was an important voice for the development of the Swedish female and feminist writing during the second part of 1900. Her books have been, and are still subject to adaptations both for theater, film, radio and tv.

For more information on certain titles, please contact Lena Stjernström, lena@grandagency.se

Author photo

Ulla Montan. For photo rights please contact Grand Agency, jenny@grandagency.se