Christer Alfred Kihlman (June 14, 1930 Helsinki[1] – 8 March 2021 Helsinki[2]) was a Finnish-Swedish writer and left-wing cultural critic.[3][4]
Queer Places:
Poets' Home, Flensborgintörmä 2, 06100 Porvoo, Finland
Christer Alfred Kihlman (June 14, 1930 Helsinki[1] – 8 March 2021 Helsinki[2]) was a Finnish-Swedish writer and left-wing cultural critic.[3][4]
From a child, Kihlman's goal was to become a writer. He studied literature and history at the University of Helsinki for a few years. After marrying, she moved to Kulloo in Porvoo, where he completed his debut novel. Later, the family built a house in Espoo, but in 1993 moved to the Poets' Home in Porvoo, which is a guest apartment offered to Finnish-Swedish writers as a sign of appreciation.[3][5] Kihlman was openly bisexual.[6] For more than 50 years, his spouse was Selinda Kihlman, whose father was the artist Torger Enckell. They have two children. Selinda Kihlman died in 2007.[5] Kihlman worked as editor-in-chief of the cultural magazine Arena from 1951 to 1954, as an assistant to Nya Pressen from 1952 to 1960 and as an editor of Nya Argus from 1961 to 1982. He was an artist professor from 1975 to 1980. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party.[3] Kihlman made his debut as a lyricist in 1951 but switched to prose with his 1960 novel Se upp Salige! (suom. Varo, autuas). The novel is set in the fictional, inward-looking and parochial small town of Lexå, modelled on Kihlman's hometown of Porvoo.[7] Den blå modern (suom. Sininen äiti) began a series of novels in which Kihlman examines difficult family ties. The series culminated in the award-winning novels Dyre prins (suom. Kallis prinssi) and Gerdt Bladhs undergång (suom. Gerdt Bladhin tuho). Kihlman's open letter to those who bother to read was published in 1966 in Hufvudstadsbladet. In it, for financial reasons, he announced that he would stop writing. The letter sparked a lively debate. The very next day, a declaration signed by 32 cultural figures was published, calling on society to recognize writers as professional workers.[8] In his book Människan som skalv (suom. Ihminen joka järkkyi) Kihlman presents himself as the author of "confessional prose", although he himself did not like to be described as a confessional writer: "I have nothing to confess, I have not sinned". In the book, he talked about his alcoholism and male relationships at a time when homosexuality was forbidden and classified as a disease under threat of imprisonment in the Finnish Criminal Code.[3][9] From the 1980s onwards, Kihlman published new works less frequently than before. However, from time to time he participated in social discourse. According to him, three generations of Finland-Swedes hated him because of his criticism of Finland-Swedish and its bourgeoisness.[3]
My published books:
