Sven Lindqvist

Sven Lindqvist (born April 28, 1932) is a Swedish author of mostly non-fiction, whose works include Exterminate All the Brutes and A History of Bombing.

Sven Lindqvist was born in in 1932. He holds a PhD in History of literature from (his thesis, in 1966, was on Vilhelm Ekelund) and a 1979 honorary doctorate from Uppsala University. In 1960–1961, he worked as cultural attaché at the Swedish embassy in Beijing, China. From 1956–86 he was married to the sinologist Cecilia Lindqvist, with whom he had two children. In 1986 he married the economist Agneta Stark. He lives in the Södermalm area of central .

Lindqvist has written more than thirty books of essays, aphorisms, autobiography, documentary prose, travel and reportage. He occasionally publishes articles in the Swedish press, writing for the cultural supplement of the largest Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter, since 1950. He is the recipient of several of Sweden's most prestigious literary and journalistic awards.

His work is mostly non-fiction, including (and often transcending) several genres: essay, documentary prose, travel writing and reportage. He is known for his works on developing nations in Africa and the Saharan countries, China, India, Latin America and Australia. In the 1960s, partly inspired by the works of Hermann Hesse, Lindqvist spent two years in China. He became fascinated by the legend of the Tang dynasty painter, Wu Tao Tzu, who, when standing looking at a mural of a temple he had just completed, "suddenly clapped his hands and the temple gate opened. He went into his work and the gates closed behind him."

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