Torgny Lindgren

Gustav Torgny Lindgren (16 June 1938 – 16 March 2017) was a Swedish writer.^[1]

Torgny Lindgren
Lindgren in 2007
Born	Gustav Torgny Lindgren (1938-06-16)16 June 1938 Raggsjö, Norsjö, Västerbotten, Sweden
Died	16 March 2017(2017-03-16) (aged 78) Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Poet, novelist
Nationality	Swedish
Period	1965–2017
Notable works	The Way of a Serpent Sweetness
Spouse	Stina
Children	Aina Ylva Torgils

Life

Lindgren was the son of Andreas Lindgren and Helga Björk. He studied in Umeå to become a teacher and worked as a teacher until the middle of the 1970s. For several years he was active as a local politician for the Swedish Social Democratic Party. In the 1980s he converted to the Catholic faith.

Lindgren died in Stockholm on 16 March 2017 from stomach cancer, aged 78.^[2]

Career

Lindgren began as a poet in 1965 but had to wait until 1982 for his breakthrough, with the novel The Way of a Serpent (Swedish: Ormens väg på hälleberget). Lindgren was translated into more than thirty languages and was one of Sweden's most internationally successful contemporary writers. He became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1991.

Awards and honors

• 1986 – Prix Femina étranger (for Bathsheba)
• 1995 – The August Prize (for Sweetness)
• 2000 – The Selma Lagerlöf Prize
• 2001 – Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• 2002 – Litteris et Artibus
• 2004 – De Nios Stora Pris