author
Edwin Björkman
1866–1951
A Swedish-born critic, translator, and journalist who built a literary career in the United States, he helped introduce Scandinavian writing to English-language readers while also publishing his own fiction and commentary.
1 Audiobook
The Soul of a Child
by Edwin Björkman
About the author
Born in Stockholm in 1866, Edwin Björkman worked as a clerk, actor, and journalist before moving to the United States in the 1890s. Sources consistently describe him as a Swedish-American literary critic, translator, newspaperman, and author, and note that he later lived in North Carolina.
Björkman is especially remembered for his role as a bridge between literary cultures. He translated Scandinavian writers into English and wrote criticism, essays, novels, and plays of his own, building a reputation as an energetic interpreter of modern European literature for American readers.
He died in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1951. Although he is not widely known today, his career reflects the lively exchange between Scandinavian and American literary life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.