The Hindu : New Delhi News : Spreading her grandmom’s legacy

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Monday, Nov 17, 2008
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New Delhi

Spreading her grandmom’s legacy

Photo: V.V. Krishnana

All smiles: Annika Lindgren in New Delhi.

Annika Lindgren , the grand daughter of a Swedish literary champion, is on a mission to spread her inheritance to India. She talks to Manisha Jha about her grandmother’s children’s writings and shares some fond memories of her.

For 46-year-old Annika Lindgren, grand daughter of the noted Swedish children’s book author Astrid Lindgren, life is all about carrying on the legacy bequeathed by her famous grandmother and keeping her memory alive through her much loved literary characters.

On her first visit to India to launch the “Pippi Longstocking” books named after one of the most celebrated character etched by her grandmother, Annika Lindgren, speaking about her unique inheritance, says: “When I was a little girl my grandmother would read me stories about Pippi and her friends and now I love to read out those stories to my own children. I think Pippi is a very special nine-year-old girl who is strong and lives alone with her monkey and horse. She also has a great sense of humour just like my grandmother. Though Pippi questions everything and never goes to school, she is a very intelligent and a street-smart girl unlike other nine year olds in Sweden who were brought up by their parents to be quiet and obedient.”

“Interestingly even though Pippi’s books were first published back in 1945, her character still manages to endear my children who laugh when I read out Pippi’s stories to them. Perhaps the only thing that has changed world wide is the interpretation of her stories which is different by different generations of parents who read out her stories to their children,” she added.

Born in Lidingo in Sweden, Ms. Annika completed her studies in arts and culture at Stockholm University and worked for over ten years as editor and editorial director at a book club named Bockernas Klubb. She gained her experience in the world of children’s literature through a student job at a children’s book club and as an employee of the Swedish children’s publishers Eriksson and Lindgren. Ms. Annika is also a committee member of Solkatten, a foundation established by Austrid Lindgren to distribute money to children’s arts projects.

Looking back she says, memorable literary experiences from her childhood include quivering with joy when her grandmother read to her and her cousin from ‘A Little Princess’. Carrying the tradition forward she too enjoys reading aloud to her two daughters aged nine and four from their favourite books that include Harry Potter, The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater and The Witches by Roald Dahl.

Enumerating her grandmothers achievements, Ms. Annika says: “Austrid Lindgren was so much more than a best-selling author of children’s books. She was also an important opinion former who helped unseat a Swedish Government, influenced changes in the law and even inspired anarchists. In 1994 she won the Right to Livelihood Honorary Award for her unique authorship dedicated to the rights of children and respect for their individuality.”

“Her rare combination of high literary quality, great popular appeal and a propensity for innovation propelled her to that position. She has fired the imagination of generations with her famous characters like Pippi Longstocking, Emil, Ronja, Brothers Lionheart and their adventures,” she added.

Presently Ms.Annika is an editor dealing with adult literature at Prisma Publishers in Sweden and is also a member of the jury of Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award which is an international prize founded by the Swedish Government in 2002 to honour Astrid’s memory promoting children’s and youth literature around the world. She also handles the family business of copyright management of Astrid’s works that include books, videos and dramatised versions of her literary creations.

Pippi Longstocking books have been translated into 90 languages and also in Hindi, according to Ms. Annika.

“Though new mediums of children’s entertainment such as Internet and movies have become popular in contemporary times, children’s books still coexist as an option along with other modes and offer children their own picture of realities and fantasies. Pippi in particular has managed to stay relevant as her character has encouraged generations of girls world-wide to have fun and to believe in themselves. In the process she has done wonders for promoting equality between the sexes and has emerged as an unusual role model,” she adds.

Invited by the Embassy of Sweden for a three-city tour in India to introduce Pippi and her wonderful world to children in India, Ms. Annika has already visited Kolkata and Chennai for the book release before hitting the Capital.

Satisfied with the response of Indian children at the book launch, Ms. Annika says: “There was a lot of curiosity among Indian children about Pippi. Most of them wanted to know how being a nine-year-old she managed to live on her own without her parents in a small Swedish village. In Delhi we decided to release Pippi’s books on November 14 which is celebrated as Children’s Day in India and which also would have been Astrid’s 101st birthday. We are also planning to release Pippi Longstocking books in India’s regional languages in the near future,”

“Due to my tight schedule I could not spend much time in Delhi but I hope to be back in India perhaps next year for a vacation. I am very keen to visit Kerala in particular after being inspired from reading Arundhati Roy’s book ‘God of Small Things’ which I liked very much,” she adds.

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