Bodil Malmsten

Bodil Malmsten (born 19 August 1944 in Bjärme, Jämtland) is a Swedish poet and novelist. She was born close to Östersund in Jämtland, Sweden and grew up at her maternal grandparents. Her paternal grandfather was designer and architect Carl Malmsten.

The English translation of her novel, Priset på vatten i Finistère (The Price of Water in Finistère, translated by Frank Perry), was selected as a Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4. In the novel, having decided to pack up and leave her country of birth, she recounts the story her settling into her new home in the Finistère département, in the northwest of France. It is told in a series of vignettes about gardening, learning the language, dealing with French bureaucracy, and struggling with writer's block.

She was awarded a doctorate honoris causa ad gradum (honorary degree) by the Faculty of Human Sciences at the Mid-Sweden University in Östersund in 2006.

Published works

• Dvärgen Gustaf (1977) ISBN 91-0-041910-9
• Damen, det brinner! (1984) ISBN 91-0-046074-5
• Paddan & branden (1987) ISBN 91-0-047171-2
• B-ställningar (1987) ISBN 91-0-047423-1
• Svartvita bilder (1988) ISBN 91-7448-975-5
• Nåd & onåd Idioternas bok (1989) ISBN 91-0-047741-9
• Nefertiti i Berlin (1990) ISBN 91-0-047980-2
• Landet utan lov (1991) ISBN 91-0-055283-6
• Det är ingen ordning på mina papper (1991) ISBN 90-364-8761-7
• Inte med den eld jag har nu : dikt för annan dam (1993) ISBN 91-0-055573-8
• Den dagen kastanjerna slår ut är jag långt härifrån (1994) ISBN 91-0-055900-8
• Nästa som rör mig (1996) ISBN 91-0-056230-0 — The next one who touches me
• Undergångarens sånger (1998) ISBN 91-0-056660-8
• Priset på vatten i Finistère (2001) ISBN 91-0-057718-9 (published in English as The Price of Water in Finistère ISBN 1-84343-164-5)
• Det är fortfarande ingen ordning på mina papper (2003) ISBN 91-0-010147-8