Gunilla Bergström

Gunilla Bergström was a Swedish author, journalist and illustrator, born in Gothenburg in 1942 and died in Stockholm in 2021. She is remembered above all for children's literature, where one character she created became known in dozens of languages.

Bergström moved to Stockholm in 1966 to start work as a journalist, writing for papers such as Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter. Her first children's book came out in 1971, and in 1972 she published the first book about Alfie Atkins, a boy who lives with his single father. She wrote and illustrated her own books, often using collage, and said that everyday life supplied her ideas. An interest in psychology and human behaviour also shaped some of her stories. She described herself as a meticulous writer. Alongside the Alfie series she wrote books about Milla, Bill and Bolla.

By 2007 she had published twenty-five Alfie books, translated into 35 languages and selling over eight million copies worldwide, four million of them in Sweden alone. Through her company Bok-Makaren she licensed the character for stage productions, dolls, puzzles and computer games. Adaptations included an animated film directed by Torill Kove and a television series.

Her legacy lives on in the Alfie Atkins series and in the Alfie Atkins House of Culture in Gothenburg, opened in 2012 with the author present. The centre offers a children's theatre and activities for young people, along with lectures for adults. Her awards included the Astrid Lindgren Prize in 1981 and the Litteris et Artibus distinction in 2019.