author
Dikken Zwilgmeyer
1853–1913
A pioneering Norwegian writer, she helped make children’s books feel closer to real life by filling them with recognizable places, lively humor, and believable young characters. She is especially remembered for the much-loved Inger Johanne stories.
4 Audiobooks
What happened to Inger Johanne, as told by herself
by Dikken Zwilgmeyer
Johnny Blossom
by Dikken Zwilgmeyer
Kolme tyttöä tuntureilla
by Dikken Zwilgmeyer
Inger Johanne's lively doings
by Dikken Zwilgmeyer
About the author
Born in Trondheim in 1853, Dikken Zwilgmeyer was a Norwegian author who became one of the important renewers of children’s literature around the turn of the 20th century. Sources agree that she is best known for her books about Inger Johanne, a spirited girl in a small-town setting, and that these stories helped bring everyday Norwegian life into children’s fiction.
She also wrote other books for young readers, including Vi børn, Karsten og jeg, Fra vor by, and Anniken Præstgaren. Reference works describe her as a writer who moved away from overly moralizing children’s books and instead gave readers humor, recognizable family life, and children who felt real.
Zwilgmeyer died in Kongsberg in 1913. More than a century later, she is still remembered as a central figure in Norwegian children’s literature and as a writer whose stories opened the door to a more modern, natural style.