Lundberg, Ulla-Lena

Lundberg, Ulla-Lena Image 1

Ulla-Lena Lundberg © commons.wikimedia

Ulla-Lena Lundberg is a Finland-Swedish writer, nowadays living in Porvoo, Finland, but writing in Swedish. She was born on the island of Kökar, Åland islands, in 1947. Her parents were church pastor Pehr Lundberg and folk teacher May Olin. She grew up in Espoo and Pargas, took her graduate in 1967. After studying Nordic ethnology and Religious studies, she became FD h.c. at Åbo Academi University in 1993.

In 1962 Lundberg published her first small collection of poetry. Her prose works include the non-fiction book Kökar (1976), the novels Sand (1986) and Leo (1989), the travel book Sibirien (1993) and the novel Ice (2012) for which she was awarded the Finlandia Prize and which has been adapted for the stage by the Finnish National Opera.

Longer stays abroad took her to the USA, Japan, England, Zambia, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania. She has worked as a freelance for the radio at a young age, was guest writer at the University of Minnesota in 1986-87 and art professor between 1994 and 1999.

Among her literary awards are: Swedish Academy of Finland Prize 1990, Thanks for the Book Medal 1990, Pro Finlandia Medal 1990, Runeberg Prize 1998, Swedish Culture Fund's Grand Prize 1998, Folktingsmedal 1999, Journal Vi's Literature Prize 2002, Tollander Prize 2011, Finlandia Prize 2012.