Adults and children who are fans of internationally-known Swedish author Astrid Lindgren are welcome at a program on the writer’s life and work at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 5 at the Astoria Yacht Club, 1555 W. Marine Drive. The program is sponsored by Astor Lodge 215, Order of Vasa.

Gunilla Wildey, an instructor at Portland State University, will discuss many of Lindgren’s literary characters. A major feature will be Pippi Longstocking, the rascally little girl Lindgren created in her children’s books. Pippi is a red-headed orphan who believes her father is a South Seas cannibal. She is so strong, she can carry a horse, and so untidy, she wears mismatched stockings. Above all, Pippi loves her freedom.

Lindgren’s work was not confined to children’s literature. Her critical opinions were often quoted in the Swedish news media. In 1976, her adult fairy tale about excessive taxation, “Pomperipossa in the World of Money,” was published in the newspaper Expression. In 1999, Lindgren was voted Most Popular Swede of the Century and she was featured on a series of Swedish stamps. In an interview shortly before her death in 2002, she was quoted as saying, “I don’t mind dying. I’ll gladly do that, but not right now. I need to clean the house.”

Lindgren was featured on a series of Swedish postage stamps in 1999.Wildey was born on a farm in Trollhattan, Sweden. She received her M.A. in Language Education from the University of Gothenburg and taught high school Swedish, English and German in Sweden for seven years before emigrating to Portland in 1994. She taught Swedish to children for two years at the Portland Swedish School and currently teaches Swedish at PSU. In the fall, she will begin a class in Contemporary Swedish Literature and Film at PSU.

Sunday’s program is appropriate for adults and children fourth grade and older. Parents are asked to accompany their children. The event is free and dessert will be served.

Pippi Longstocking is Lindgren’s best-known character, but the author also wrote numerous other books for children and adults, as well as essays and opinion pieces.