New Swedish Books, spring 2017 1
57 Spring 2017 The Bird Inside Me Flies Wherever
it Likes The Bird Inside Me Flies Wherever it Likes stands out both in form and content. It’s a picture book for readers from age nine, inspired by the paintings and childhood of the artist Berta Hansson. It describes the fortune of a woman, in the process revealing much about the situation for girls in 1920s Sweden, but is also about art, grief and desire. With the aid of strong, powerful paintings and a precise text an image of eleven-year-old Berta springs forth on the pages. How do you handle the loss of your sick mother? What do you do when it feels impossible to live up to the expectations that have been put on you? How do you define the desire to create, to do something different, to become someone else? This is a story that hits you with full force. It takes the reader’s breath away - both because of its powerful depiction of grief, and because of its emphasis on the power that creativity holds, and which radiates from the page. Sara Lundberg (b. 1971) The Bird Inside Me Flies Wherever it Likes Publisher Mirando Bok info@mirandobok.se mirandobok.se SARA LUNDBERG FÅGELN I MIG FLYGER VART DEN VILL Rights Koja agency carin.bacho@kojaagency.com Selected Works Vita, Öjvind och Ingenting (Alfabeta 2015) Picture book Embla mitt i kosmos written by Majken Pollack (Alvina 2014) Picture book Öjvind och världens ände (Alfabeta 2014) Picture book Literary Prizes (selection) Augustpriset 2009 Photo: Ola Kjelbye