Now, a hundred of the 450 poems have been collected not only on the Instagram account "diktektiven" but also in a newly printed book, "The Secret Poet". Linnea Swedenmark has come out as a guerrilla poet, an identity known to only about eight people over the years, and hopes to inspire others.
I've had contact with so many readers on Instagram – I didn't want to just let it disappear without saying "it's us who have shared this together".
She has written quickly and uncensored, often on the subway on her way to Stockholm University where she studied law, or later to her job as a speechwriter for two Social Democratic prime ministers, Stefan Löfven and Magdalena Andersson.
It's been so tempting to surprise people with poetry, it doesn't happen that often, that a poem throws itself over you.
Odd situation
The guerrilla poet writes concretely and everyday, often with humor about a person in an odd situation.
An Erik or Frida or Magnhild who thinks back on an old love or so. It's not abstract nature poetry. I've thought: "someone will surely be happy with the poem" rather than it having to be perfect.
When she photographed the posted poem notes and uploaded pictures with location information, her followers rushed to the spot.
What I'm most surprised about is people's engagement, they've gone and picked up the notes, it became like a sport.
Another way
Linnea Swedenmark began her anonymous poetry on notes as a teenager in Östersund. She had read Per Nilsson's novel "Another way to be young" and took after the main character. When she then saw someone standing and reading, her heart went "at the same frequency as a tuned epa on the highway", she writes in the foreword.
When she was about to move back to Östersund and start working as a court clerk, she decided to stop being a guerrilla poet.
It became hard to continue and be a little secret. It would have been so obvious if I started putting up poems in Östersund the same week I moved.
Born: Born 1990 in Östersund.
Family: Husband and child.
Occupation: Lawyer and poet.
Background: Has worked as a speechwriter for Stefan Löfven and Magdalena Andersson, and as an editorial writer for NSD, Dagens Arena, and Aftonbladet.
Books: Debuted in 2020 with the poetry collection "One night I kidnap all my home care customers in a stolen bus" about a young woman working in home care.
