John Stig Claesson (2 June 1928 – 4 January 2008), also known under his signature Slas, was a Swedish writer, visual artist, and illustrator. Claesson was born on 2 June 1928 in

Huddinge Huddinge Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Stockholm County, east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Huddinge (), which is a part of Stockholm urban area. The municipality is, with its approximately 110,000 inhabit ...

, south of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. He attended the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

between 1947 and 1952, during which time he began to illustrate Swedish literature such as the novels of Per Anders Fogelström. Claesson is the father of actor Leif Claesson. His son, artist Nils Claesson, published a revealing portrait of his father in the book ''Blåbärsmaskinen'' (The Blueberry Machine, 2009) which was much discussed in Sweden on its publication. Stig Claesson died on 4 January 2008 in Stockholm.

Career

Claesson debuted in his writing career in 1956, when he was 28 years of age. During his career Claesson published more than 80 books. A number of his books are based on travel abroad and move in the frontier between reporting and

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

. Among his best-known works include ''En vandring i solen'' (Walking in the Sun, 1976), which was made into a film with Gösta Ekman in the role of the main character. Claesson provided works about the remote and rural regions of Sweden and describe the conflict between the town and the country in books such as ''Vem älskar Yngve Frej'' (1968; Who Loves Yngve Frej), which was translated into 10 languages and was filmed for television in 1973 starring

Allan Edwall Johan Allan Edwall (25 August 1924 – 7 February 1997) was a Swedish actor, director, author, composer and singer, best-known outside Sweden for the small roles he played in some of Ingmar Bergman's films, such as ''Fanny and Alexander'' (1982). ...

. A stage adaption was created in the 1990s. His last book was ''God Natt Fröken Ann'' (Goodnight, Miss Ann), published in 2006. Stig Claesson's work has received many awards, such as the literature prize of the newspaper ''

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

'' and the Selma Lagerlöf Prize. The

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate degree in 1974. He died on 4 January 2008.Author Stig Claesson dies
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Bibliography

* Berättelse från Europa, 1956 * Från Nya världen, 1961 * Supportern, 1962 * Bönder, 1963 * Ugnstekt gädda, 1964 * Västgötalagret, 1965 * En Stockholmsbok, 1966 * Kiki, en liten man, 1966 (foto Yngve Baum) * Dråp i hastigt mod, 1966 * Lage Lindell, 1966 (Bonniers små konstböcker) * Flickor, 1967 * Döden heter Konrad, 1967 * I stället för telegram Finland 50 år, tillsammans med Jens Hildén, 1967 * 21 Berättelser, 1968 * Vem älskar Yngve Frej, 1968; filmatiserad 1973 * Nelly, 1969 * Den ensamme nobelpristagarens vardag, 1970 * Knut K. Selma Johansson med rätt att leva, 1970 * Sanningen och ingenting annat än, 1970 * Att resa sig upp och gå, 1971 * Samtal på ett fjärrtåg, 1972 * Min vän Charlie (My friend Charlie), 1973 * Yrkesmän emellan, 1974 * Brev till en hembygdsgård, 1974 * Stockholmsbilder, med ill. av Svenolov Ehrén, 1975 * På palmblad och rosor, 1975 * Bättre kan det inte sägas, 1976 * En vandring i solen, 1976 (filmatiserades 1978, se vidare, En vandring i solen) * Henrietta ska du också glömma, 1977 (filmatiserades 1983, se Henrietta (film)) * Ni har inget liv att försäkra, 1978 * Allt står i lågor, 1979 * Medan tidvattnet vänder, 1980 * Om vänskap funnes, 1981 * Sveaborg eller Rock happy, 1981 * Lika oskyldigt som meningslöst, 1982 * Sagor för barn och vuxna, 1982 * 10-årskalendern, 1982 (specialtryck) * Utsikt från ett staffli, 1983 * I boulevardens skugga, 1983 * Dagarna före lunch, 1984 * De tio budorden, 1984 * Det bortglömda landskapet, 1985 * Blå måndag, 1985 * Lantlif i Budapest, 1986 * Kamrerns julafton, (Bonniers julbok) 1986 * På behörigt avstånd, (teckningar och

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

), 1987 * Nya Stockholmsbilder, (ill. Svenolov Ehrén), 1987 * Skam den som fryser, 1987 * 21 Sagor, 1988 * Kärlek rostar inte, 1988 * Landet som inte längre finns, 1989 * Iakttagen (målade porträtt), 1989 * Innan himlen klarnar, 1989 * SommarStockholm, (teckningar) 1989 * En mörts drömmar, 1990 * Målade porträtt, 1991 * Yngve Frejs landskap, ( pasteller) 1991 * Rosine, 1991 * Skånebilder, (pasteller) 1991 * Han och hon, (sagor) 1992 * Blues för Mr Shelley, 1992 * Män i min ålder 1992 * Nästa man till rakning, 1993 * Nästa Katrineholm, 1993 (specialtryck) * På landet, 1993 * Årstider och åsikter, 1993 * Vägen till brevlådan, 1993 * Nice Mat Sol, 1994, (med Nils Emil Ahlin) * Till Europa 1994, (foto Leif Claesson) * Den extra milen, 1994 * Eko av en vår, 1996 * Vandring med mig själv, 1996 * Blå stolar, 1996 * Man måste det man önskar, 1997 * Vad man ser och hedrar, 1998 * Varsel om kommande tilldragelse, 1999 * Svart asfalt grönt gräs, 2000 * Det lyckliga Europa, 2001 * Efter oss syndafloden, 2002 * Följ Alltid Cecilias Exempel, 2003 * Sov du så diskar jag, 2004 * Liv och kärlek, 2005 * Sekonderna lämnar ringen, 2005 * God natt fröken Ann, 2006 Claesson also wrote the television show ''Harry H - Fallet Mary'' (Directed by Jan Halldoff), which was originally aired on Swedish TV 2 in 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claesson, Stig 20th-century Swedish illustrators 21st-century Swedish illustrators Swedish-language writers Swedish children's writers Swedish children's book illustrators Swedish television writers 1928 births 2008 deaths Selma Lagerlöf Prize winners People from Huddinge Municipality