Biography

Gunilla Bergström (born 3 July 1942) is a Swedish author, journalist, and illustrator from Gothenburg. She is best known for her series of children's books about the character Alfie Atkins (Swedish: Alfons Åberg). Bergström moved to Stockholm in 1966 to begin her career as a journalist. She worked for Swedish newspapers such as Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter. Bergström debuted as a children's book author in 1971, and released her first Alfie Atkins book in 1972. She has been a children's book author ever since, having released twenty-five Alfie books as of 2007. These books have been translated into twenty-nine different languages and have sold over eight million copies worldwide. Four million copies have been sold in Sweden alone. In 2006, her book Alfons och soldatpappan was released simultaneously in seven different languages; this had never happened before for a Swedish children's book. Bergström has also written children's books about character such as Milla, Bill, and Bolla. Bergström says she receives the inspiration for her stories while doing ordinary things such as grocery shopping. She is also interested in psychology andhuman behavior, and incorporates this into some of her books. Bergström describes herself as a nit-picky person when it comes to writing. She illustrates her own books and often works with collage. Bergström is currently the owner of her own company, Bok-Makaren (English: Book-Maker), which handles the licenses to the Alfie Atkins series. Licenses have been granted for theater productions and Alfie dolls, puzzles, and computer games.Bergström has commented that there is "nothing wrong with making commerce of famous things, but we are careful about who we sell licenses to." As of 2007, Bergström was living in Stockholm with her West African husband. They spend their winters together in West Africa. Bergström is a grandmother.