Johanna Ulrika Ekström (9 May 1970 – 13 April 2022) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

author and artist. Ekström made her published debut in 1993 with a collection of poems called ''Skiffer'', and the following year she had her first exhibition at Galleri Charlotte Lund in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Ekström published a dozen collections of poems and short stories as well as novels.

Biography

Ekström grew up in Stockholm, the daughter of the authors Per Wästberg and

Margareta Ekström Sigrid Margareta Ekström (23 April 1930 – 12 December 2021) was a Swedish poet, novelist, translator, children's writer, literary critic and film critic. Biography Ekström was born in Stockholm in 1930, to Harald Ekström and wife Sigrid ...

. She made her writing debut in 1993 with the collection of poems ''Skiffer ("Slate")'', and continued to publish poetry during the 1990s. After the turn of the millennium in 2000, she began writing short stories, novels, and diary entries. Her first collection of short stories, ''What Do I Know About Strength'', was published in 2000. Her first published novel was ''Farewell Relay'' (2004), which was followed by the short story collection ''Look, she crawls''. Ekström became better known as a writer through his autobiographical works. The autobiographical ''If You Stay in the Sun'' (2012) describes growing up in a bourgeois and intellectual home on Djurgården. Her previous diaries were published in 2016 under the title ''Diary 1996–2002''. Her latest book, ''The Sentences from 2000'', depicts the relationship with her mother, after her mother had difficulty speaking due to a stroke in the 1990s. As an artist, Johanna Ekström had her first exhibition at Galleri Charlotte Lund in 1994. Her work as a visual artist was closely linked to her poetry. In 2012, she had her first exhibition at Björkholmen Gallery and was subsequently represented by the gallery. She also exhibited at the Gothenburg Art Museum and Färgfabriken on Liljeholmen.

Personal life

For a time, she was cohabiting with author Tomas Lappalainen and had a daughter with him. Ekström died of cancer on 13 April 2022, at the age of 51.

Bibliography

* ''Skiffer'' (1993) * ''Vitöga: dikter'' (1994) * ''Rachels hus: dikter'' (1995) * ''Fiktiva dagboken'' (1997) * ''Gå förlorad: dikter'' (1998) * ''Brott'', with Erik Pauser (1998) * ''Vad vet jag om hållfasthet'' (2000) * ''Jag ska vakna stående '' (2003) * ''Avskedsstafetten'' (2004) * ''Titta, hon kryper'' (2006) * ''Det enda främmande '' (2008) * ''Om man håller sig i solen'' (2012) * ''Dagbok 1996-2002'' (2016) * ''Meningarna'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekström, Johanna 1970 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Swedish poets 20th-century Swedish women writers 21st-century Swedish poets 21st-century Swedish women writers Swedish women poets Deaths from cancer in Sweden