Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlf (1858-1940) was a Swedish author and the first woman writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Known internationally for her children's story The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1906-07) she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1909 "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings." She began her first novel, The Story of Gosta Berling (1891) while working as a teacher in Landskrona. Her first break as a writer came when she submitted the first chapters to a literary contest, and won a publishing contract for the whole book. Lagerlf's other important works include Jerusalem (1901-1902), The Emperor of Portugalia (1914), The Ring of the Lwensklds (1925), The Treasure, and Invisible Links.
