Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlof (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. Lagerlof"s other important works include Jerusalem (1901-1902), The Emperor of Portugalia (1914), The Ring of the Lowenskolds (1925), The Treasure, and Invisible Links.