Siv Cedering (February 5, 1939 – November 17, 2007) was a Swedish-American poet, writer, and artist. She occasionally published as Siv Cedering Fox.[1]
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.[2]
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, and 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 to teach in Graduate and Undergraduate writing programs all over the country.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
Professional observations
"Siv was a one of a kind force of the spirit, a total original, who will never be replaced."—Bill Henderson, founder of Pushcart Press and editor of The Pushcart Prize
