Berit Spong was the daughter of an architect, graduated from Uppsala University, and married Bertil Malmrot, a principal from Strängnäs. She made her debut as a poet in 1924 with the publication of Högsal och örtagård and as a prose writer in 1926 with her short story collection I Östergyllen. Her first novel was Spelet på Härnevi, 1938. Her writing is often set in rural Östgötland and centres on the female characters.
Berit Spong combines an early, erotic primitivism with culture-historical knowledge of the rural milieu of Östergötland. In Nävervisan, 1942, and Svarta tavlan, 1946, her theme is women’s emancipation in the nineteenth century. Following her controversial roman à clef, Sjövinkel, 1949, she wrote romantic novels. In 1947 she was awarded the Övralid Prize.
