Pen name Siv Cedering Fox Name Siv Cedering Spouse Hans Van de Bovenkamp | Period 1969–2007 Nationality Swedish-American Role Poet | |
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Occupation Poet, Writer, and Artist Genre poetry, children's literature, novels Books Letters from the floating world | ||
Hands by Siv Cedering
Siv Cedering (February 5, 1939 – November 17, 2007) was an award-winning Swedish-American poet, writer, and artist. She occasionally published as Siv Cedering Fox.
Contents
- Hands by Siv Cedering
- Redjeb Jordania and Siv Cedering Letters From The Floating World
- Early life
- Career
- Professional observations
- Awards
- References
Redjeb Jordania and Siv Cedering: " Letters From The Floating World"
Early life
Siv Cedering was born 30 kilometers south of the arctic circle in rural Överkalix, Norrbotten County, Sweden, the second of four children. She began writing poetry at age 8. At 14, she immigrated with her family to San Francisco, where she graduated from Lowell High School.
Career
A poet and fiction writer, Siv Cedering wrote many books in her native Swedish, as well as in English, her second language, publishing a total of 20 books and four works of translation. She also wrote plays, screenplays, music, television programs, and was a widely exhibited painter and sculptor. She was self-taught, having never received any formal training, though she was mentored by such notable poets as William Stafford. She later went on teach in Graduate and Undergraduate writing programs all over the country.
Ms. Cedering won the Best Book of the Year Award in Sweden for her first novel Playing in the Pig House. This story is an autobiographical account of her early decision to celebrate creativity. She wrote children's books, including a playful series of books about an introspective pig who wrote poetry, some of which were adapted for television, for which Ms. Cedering wrote the music and provided the character drawings. Another of her novels, Oxen, was made into the 1991 film The Ox starring Stellan Skarsgård and directed by Sven Nykvist, Ingrid Bergman's longtime cinematographer. The Ox went on to receive a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Ms. Cedering's poetry and prose have appeared in over 200 anthologies, textbooks, and magazines, including Harper's, Ms., Science, and The New Republic. She also wrote musicals for children and won prizes and grants for her screenplays. While gaining success as a poet and fiction writer, Ms. Cedering expressed herself in the visual arts, mastering the techniques of both painting and sculpture with a skill that led to her work being exhibited first in the Hamptons and later throughout the United States.