Hjalmar Fredrik Elgérus Bergman (19 September 1883 in Örebro, Sweden – 1 January 1931 in Berlin, Germany) was a Swedish writer and playwright.

Much of his output takes place in a small town in mid-Sweden, which is growing into a parallel universe in a Balzacian manner.

[2] The shameful secrets of a dozen of interwoven families gradually come out of the closet as the stories grow increasingly symbolic.

A pessimistic outlook is always counterbalanced by a grotesque humour - indeed, in a book like Markurells i Wadköping the latter almost succeeds in completely shading the former.

After an unsuccessful bout as a manuscript writer in Hollywood, Bergman's alcoholism and narcotics abuse took over, from which he died prematurely; his final novel Clownen Jac mirrors his awareness of his drift into self-destruction as well as his belief in the honesty and purpose of artistic spectacle.