# List of Swedish women writers

This is a list of women writers who were born in Sweden or whose writings are closely associated with the country.

## A

* Sophie Adlersparre (1823–1895), journalist, editor, women's rights activist
* Charlotte Agell (born 1959), English-language works for children and young adults
* Catharina Ahlgren (1734–1800)
* Astrid Ahnfelt (1876–1962), writer, translator and editor, fostered cultural relations between Sweden and Italy
* Sonja Åkesson (1926–1977), poet, dramatist
* Susanna Alakoski (born 1962), Finnish-born author now in Sweden, novelist, author of Svinalängorna filmed as Beyond
* Eva Alexanderson (1911–1994), novelist, translator, publisher
* Elsa Alkman (1878–1975), suffragist, women's rights activist, writer and composer
* Barbro Alving (1909–1987), journalist, feminist, screenwriter
* Fanny Alving (1874–1955), journalist, novelist
* Karin Alvtegen (born 1965), crime fiction writer, some works now in English
* Lena Anderson (born 1939), children's writer and illustrator
* Pamela Andersson (born 1965), journalist
* Stina Aronson (1892–1956), novelist, her Hitom himlen features women in the farms of northern Sweden
* Suzanne Axell (born 1955), journalist, television presenter
* Majgull Axelsson (born 1947), journalist, best-selling novelist

## B

* Victoria Benedictsson (1850–1888), realist novelist
* Anne-Marie Berglund (1952–2020), poet, novelist, short story writer
* Elisabeth Bergstrand-Poulsen (1887–1955), writer, artist, illustrator
* Gunilla Bergström (1942–2021), journalist, widely translated children's author, creator of Alfie Atkins (Alfons Aberg)
* Charlotta Berger (1784–1852)
* Elsa Beskow (1874–1953), children's writer, novelist, illustrator
* Eva Billow (1902–1993), writer and illustrator of children's literature
* Margareta Birgersdotter Grip (1538–1586), genealogist, early documentalist
* Elsa Björkman-Goldschmidt (1888–1982), writer and lithographer
* Ellen-Sylvia Blind (1925–2009), Swedish Sami writer
* Louise Boije af Gennäs (born 1961), novelist, feminist, co-creator of Swedish soap opera Rederiet
* Sophie Bolander (1807–1869)
* Hilma Borelius (1869–1932), literary historian, academic and suffragist
* Karin Boye (1900–1941), novelist, poet, Swedes know her poems by heart
* Eva Brag (1829–1913), novelist, poet, journalist
* Agnes Branting (1862–1930), textile artist and writer
* Fredrika Bremer (1801–1865), novelist, feminist writer
* Irja Agnes Browallius (1901–1968), teacher, novelist, short story writer
* Annika Bryn (born 1945), journalist, short story writer, crime-fiction author
* Maj Bylock (1931–2019), children's writer, translator, teacher

## C

* Gunnel Carlson (born 1956), gardening journalist, author, television presenter
* Charlotte Cecilia af Tibell (1820-1901), author, hymn writer
* Siv Cedering (1939–2007), children's writer, poet, writes in both English and Swedish
* Sigrid Combüchen (born 1942), novelist, essayist, journalist, critic, author of Byron (1988)

## D

* Tora Dahl (1886–1982), novelist, teacher, gained fame with her autobiographic Fosterbarn (Foster Child) in 1954

## E

* Inger Edelfeldt (born 1956), novelist, short story writer, children's writer, illustrator
* Brita Egardt (1916–1990), ethnologist and folklorist
* Lena Einhorn (born 1954), director, writer and physician
* Hedda Ekman (1860–1929), writer and photographer
* Kerstin Ekman (born 1933), novelist, detective story writer, several English translations
* Margareta Ekström (1930–2021), poet, novelist, children's writer, critic
* Elaine Eksvärd (born 1981), non-fiction writer specializing in rhetoric
* Sigrid Elmblad (1860–1926), journalist, poet, translator and writer.
* Helena Eriksson (born 1962), expressionist poet, author of Strata
* Maria Ernestam (born 1959), journalist, widely translated novelist

## F

* Charlotta Falkman (1795–1882), novelist
* Phebe Fjellström (1924–2007), ethnologist
* Emilie Flygare-Carlén (1807–1892), novelist
* Maja Forsslund (1878–1967), folklorist and local historian
* Tua Forsström (born 1947), highly acclaimed Swedish-language poet, widely translated, author of Efter att ha tillbringat en natt bland hästar (After Spending a Night among Horses)
* Marianne Fredriksson (1927–2007), journalist, novelist, most works translated into English
* Inger Frimansson (born 1944), crime fiction writer, children's writer, journalist
* Katarina Frostenson (born 1953), one of Sweden's foremost poets since the 1980s

## G

* Christina Garsten (born 1962), social anthropologist, non-fiction writer
* Wilhelmina Gravallius (1809–1884)
* Caroline Giertz (born 1958), writer and TV presenter
* Elsa Grave (1918–2003), novelist, poet, artist
* Maria Gripe (1923–2007), children's writer
* Abela Gullbransson (1775–1822), revivalist writer
* Madeleine Gustafsson (born 1937), poet, critic, translator

## H

* Anna Hamilton Geete (1848–1913), translator, biographer
* Carola Hansson (born 1942), novelist, translator
* Gunnel Hazelius-Berg (1905–1997), museum curator and writer, specializing in textiles and folk costumes
* Barbro Hedvall (born 1944), journalist, non-fiction writer
* Marie Hermanson (born 1956), thriller writer, author of The Devil's Sanctuary
* Rut Hillarp (1914–2003), modernist poet evoking sexual relationships in a man's world
* Sara Holmsten (1713–1795), memoirist
* Karin Hübinette (born 1966), journalist, television presenter

## I

* Ulla Isaksson (1916–2000), novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, caused controversy among feminists with Paradistorg (Paradise Place, 1973)

## J

* Ann Jäderlund (born 1955), poet, playwright, children's writer
* Ann Henning Jocelyn, (born 1948), writer, playwright and translator
* Klara Johanson (1875–1948), literary critic, essayist, translator
* Majken Johansson (1930–1993), now regarded as one of Sweden's greatest mid-20th century poets
* Molly Johnson (1931–2018), novelist, known for Pansarkryssaren
* Mari Jungstedt (born 1962), popular crime fiction writer, journalist, translated 15 languages including English

## K

* Mare Kandre (1962–2005), novelist, short story writer, several works translated into English
* Marit Kapla (born 1970), writer, journalist
* Kristina Kappelin (born 1958), journalist, columnist, non-fiction writer
* Amanda Kerfstedt (1835–1920), novelist, playwright, translator
* Ellen Key (1849–1926), feminist writer, advocate of child-centred education
* Elisabet Kjellberg (1821-1914), publicist, editor, and author
* Ellen Kleman (1867–1943), novelist, journal editor, women's rights activist
* Linde Klinckowström-von Rosen (1920–2000), columnist, letter writer, non-fiction writer
* Sophie von Knorring (1797–1848), pioneer of the realistic novel in Sweden
* Thekla Knös (1815–1880)
* Anja Kontor (born 1964), journalist, television presenter
* Elisabeth Krey-Lange (1878–1965), journalist and women's rights activist
* Agnes von Krusenstjerna (1894–1940), novelist, short story writer, often causing controversy with accounts of sexual intercourse
* Annette Kullenberg (1939–2021), journalist, novelist, playwright

## L

* Camilla Läckberg (born 1974), best-seller crime writer, translated into 33 languages
* Anna Laestadius Larsson (born 1966), historical novelist
* Ann-Helén Laestadius (born 1971), Sami journalist and children's novelist, writing in Swedish
* Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940), children's writer, novelist, Nobel prize winner
* Dagmar Lange (1914–1991), successful crime fiction writer under the pen name Maria Lang
* Viveca Lärn (born 1944), journalist, children's writer
* Åsa Larsson (born 1966), crime fiction writer
* Lisbeth Larsson (1949–2021), literary historian focusing on gender studies
* Zenia Larsson (1922–2007), writer and sculptor, one of the first Holocaust survivors in Sweden to describe their war experiences
* Anne Charlotte Leffler (1849–1892), novelist, biographer
* Anna Maria Lenngren (1754–1817), well-known poet, works in support of intellectual freedom of expression for women
* Sara Lidman (1923–2004), novelist, several works translated into English
* Birgitta Lillpers (born 1958), poet, novelist
* Gunnel Linde (1924–2014), writer
* Gurli Linder (1865–1947), writer, feminist, children's literature critic
* Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002), world-famous children's writer, best known for her Pippi Longstocking stories
* Barbro Lindgren (born 1937), children's writer
* Anna Lindmarker (born 1961), journalist, broadcaster
* Elin Lindqvist (born 1982), novelist
* Eva Lindström (born 1952), illustrator and writer
* Aurora Ljungstedt (1821–1908), crime horror writer
* Kristina Lugn (1948–2020), poet, dramatist, critic

## M

* Bodil Malmsten (1944–2016), novelist, at least two works translated into English
* Rosa Malmström (1906–1995), librarian and gender studies specialist
* Edda Manga (born 1969), historian of ideas
* Gerda Marcus (1880–1952), journalist, philanthropist
* Liza Marklund (born 1962), best-seller crime fiction writer, works translated into 30 languages
* Moa Martinson (1890–1964), ever popular novelist, writer of articles and books in support of women's rights
* Ellen Mattson (born 1962), novelist, critic
* Katarina Mazetti (born 1944), widely translated novelist, journalist
* Margareta Momma (1702–1772)
* Edita Morris (1902–1988), Swedish-American pacifist, short story writer, journalist, novelist
* Alva Myrdal (1902–1986), welfare state proponent, author of Crisis in the Population Question

## N

* Anna T. Nilsson (1869–1869), educator, peace activist, writer
* Kerstin Norborg (born 1961), novelist
* Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht (1718–1763), revered poet, works defending women's rights, first self-supporting female writer in Sweden
* Anna Nordgren (1847–1916), painter
* Astrid Nyberg (1877–1928), pioneering newspaper editor and suffragist
* Julia Nyberg (1784–1854), poet, songwriter, used the pen name Euphrosyne

## O

* Linda Olsson (born 1948), best-selling novelist, now in New Zealand
* Rosalinde von Ossietzky-Palm (1919–2000), German-born Swedish non-fiction writer and pacifist
* Nan Inger Östman (1923–2015), novelist, children's writer

## P

* Agneta Pleijel (born 1940), novelist, poet, playwright, journalist, critic, author of the philosophical novel Fungi

## R

* Karolina Ramqvist (born 1976), journalist
* Märta Helena Reenstierna (1753–1841), diarist
* Christina Rogberg (1832–1907), author and courtier
* Eva Runefelt (born 1953), novelist, poet
* Carina Rydberg (born 1962), novelist, author of the controversial Den högsta kasten
* Elisabeth Rynell (born 1954), poet, novelist, English translation of her novel Mervas

## S

* Hilda Sachs (1857–1935), journalist, novelist and women's rights activist
* Sofie Sarenbrant (born 1978), novelist
* Marie Sophie Schwartz (1819–1894), novelist
* Malla Silfverstolpe (1782–1861), diarist
* Maj Sjöwall (1935–2020), novelist, some works written in collaboration with Per Wahlöö
* Cecilia Skingsley (born 1968), journalist and economist
* Edith Södergran (1892–1923), widely recognized Swedish-language modernist poet
* Pernilla Stalfelt (born 1962), children's author and illustrator
* Ingela Strandberg (born 1944), poet, children's writer, novelist, playwright, translator, journalist and musician
* Sara Stridsberg (born 1972), novelist, poet
* Eva Ström (born 1947), poet, novelist, biographer, critic
* Amelie von Strussenfelt (1803–1847)
* Ulrika von Strussenfelt (1801–1873)
* Elsa Stuart-Bergstrom (1889-1970)
* Margareta Suber (1892–1984), novelist, travel writer, children's writer, poet
* Annakarin Svedberg (born 1934), novelist
* Maria Sveland (born 1974), novelist and journalist

## T

* Gunhild Tegen (1889–1970), short story writer, editor, pacifist
* Kerstin Thorvall (1925–2010), children's writer, novelist, journalist, illustrator
* Johanna Thydell (born 1980), children's and youth writer
* Anna-Clara Tidholm (born 1946), children's and youth writer, illustrator
* Mia Törnblom (born 1967), columnist, non-fiction writer, educator
* Rita Tornborg (born 1926), novelist, short story writer
* Ulla Trenter (1936–2019), novelist, translator, politician
* Birgitta Trotzig (1929–2011), celebrated writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry
* Helene Tursten (born 1954), crime fiction writer

## U

* Bea Uusma (born 1966), children's writer, non-fiction writer, illustrator, medical doctor

## V

* Gunnel Vallquist (1918–2016), essayist, non-fiction writer, translator, religious commentary

## W

* Elin Wägner (1882–1949), novelist, journalist, pacifist, feminist
* Anna Westberg (1946–2005), novelist, non-fiction writer
* Josefina Wettergrund (1830–1903)
* Eva Wigström (1832–1901), writer, poet and pioneering folklorist
* Liselott Willén (born 1972), novelist
* Gunilla Wolde (1939–2015), children's writer, illustrator