Barbro Karlén (24 May 1954 – 12 October 2022), later Barbro Ask-Upmark, was a Swedish writer of both

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

and

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, and a

dressage Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...

rider.

Career

Karlén became a prolific writer from an early age. A book of her poetry, ''Människan på jorden'' (published in English as ''Man on Earth''), published when she was 12 years old, became a best-sellerChristopher Bigsby, ''Remembering and Imagining the Holocaust: The Chain of Memory'' https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/remembering-and-imagining-the-holocaust/memory-theft/FC4B109FB02AA2AD93CFA4F20EB64B79 and led to her widespread recognition within Sweden as a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

. Karlén claimed to have memories of being

Anne Frank Annelies Marie Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945)Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new li ...

in a past life, a claim identified by at least one Anne Frank scholar as being indicative of the way the memory of Anne Frank has "transcended reality". In an autobiographical work, ''And the Wolves Howled'', she told a story of visiting

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

as a child with her family, where she claimed that she found her own way to the Frank house and identified details of the house's construction and furnishings that she said had been changed since Frank's time. A fabulist autobiographer about the Holocaust,

Binjamin Wilkomirski ''Fragments: Memories of a Wartime Childhood'' is a 1995 book, whose author used the pseudonym Binjamin Wilkomirski, which purports to be a memoir of the Holocaust. It was debunked by Swiss journalist and writer in August 1998. The subsequent di ...

, condemned Karlén's claims as nonsense: "It is a fraud in a moral sense." He contended that Karlén was "simply disturbed", a rhetoric which ironically mirrored later criticism leveled against his own debunked claims. Karlén, now known as Ask-Upmark, later had a career as a dressage rider. She moved to the USA in 1999 and was in 2002 awarded the United States Dressage Federation Gold Medal Award, and later Silver and Bronze medal in 2006. In 2006 she started to work for Racewood Simulators as an expert and rider developing simulators for education and training of dressage riders. In 2016 she went to Tryon International Equestrian Center & Resort for a similar position.

Family

Barbro Karlén was the daughter of Sölve Carlén and Maria Carlsson, but became the step-daughter to professor and changed her surname to "Ask-Upmark". She was married to Lars Sjögreen 1972–1973 and they are parents to the musician Erik Ask-Upmark born 1973. Barbro died after a long term illness on October 12, 2022. https://tryon.com/article/in-memoriam-barbro-ask-upmark

References

External links

barbrokarlen.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karlén Barbro 1954 births 2022 deaths Swedish writers Reincarnation