Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer wins Nobel Literature Prize
• Swedish PM 'happy and proud' over Nobel to Tranströmer
• The odds they are a-changin': Bob Dylan favourite for Nobel
STOCKHOLM, October 6, 2011 (AFP) - Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, whose simple but mystical imagery addresses themes of nature, history and death, won the 2011 Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday.
Tranströmer, 80, was honoured "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality," the Swedish Academy's jury said.
His poetry is filled with imagination and emotion, but is also riddled with the unexpected, making his work at times both disorienting and refreshing.
Scandinavia's most famous living poet, Tranströmer has been called a master of mysticism who often presents a dream-like consciousness in which time slows to allow for dissection of the relationship between the inner self and the surrounding world.
"Most of Tranströmer's poetry collections are characterised by economy, concreteness and poignant metaphors. In his latest collections... Tranströmer has shifted towards an even smaller format and a higher degree of concentration," it added.
Transtroemer suffered a stroke in 1990 which left his speech slurred.
At a press conference Thursday, a smiling Transtroemer said receiving the accolade felt "very good." His wife, Monica, answered the other questions for him.
An amateur pianist, he plays the piano every day with his undamaged left hand and spends his mornings listening to classical music.
He was listening to music when Thursday's call came from the Swedish Academy.
The Academy's permanent secretary, Peter Englund, told Swedish television that Transtroemer had been nominated for the prize every year since 1993.
His work is "about death and history and memory, watching us, creating us, and that makes us important because human beings are sort of the prison where all these great entities meet," Englund told the nobelprize.org website.
"It makes us important, so you can never feel small after reading the poetry of Transtroemer," he added.
"He has quite a small production really, you could fit it into a not-too-large pocket book, all of it. So he has a very fast and very well contained production. He is not a prolific author," Englund said.
Transtroemer's reputation in the English-speaking world owes much to his friendship with American poet Robert Bly, who has translated much of his work into English, one of 60 languages in which his poems have appeared.
His work paints simple pictures from everyday life and nature, as seen in this extract from the poem After a Death, translated by Bly: "Once there was a shock/that left behind a long, shimmering comet tail./It keeps us inside./ It makes the TV pictures snowy./ It settles in cold drops on the telephone wires."
His introspective style, described by Publishers Weekly as "mystical, versatile and sad", is in contrast with Transtroemer's life, which shows a constant, active commitment to working for a better world -- and not just by writing poems.
In his parallel careers as psychologist and poet, he also worked with the disabled, convicts and drug addicts while, at the same time, producing a large body of poetic work.
His wife Monica told Swedish news agency TT her husband was surprised to win the prestigious accolade.
"He did not think he would get to experience this," she said.
Tranströmer has sold thousands of volumes in his native country, and his work has been translated into more than 60 languages.
His books of poetry include "The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems" (New Directions, 2006), "The Half-Finished Heaven" (2001); "New Collected Poems" (1997); "For the Living and the Dead" (1995); "Baltics" (1975); "Windows and Stones" (1972), an International Poetry Forum Selection and a runner-up for the National Book Award for translation; and "The Half-Finished Heaven" (2001).
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt hailed the choice of Transtroemer, saying he hoped it would increase reading in Sweden.
"I am happy and proud ... I know that many have hoped for this for a long time," he said.
Just minutes before Thursday's announcement, Serbia's state-run RTS television erroneously announced that fiercely nationalist Serb writer and ex-politician Dobrica Cosic had won the prize. Fooled by a fake website, it later apologised for the mistake.
Transtroemer, the seventh Swede to win the prestigious prize, will receive the 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.48 million, 1.08 million euros) award at a gala ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of the prize creator, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel.
Last year, the honour went to Spanish-Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa.
Works in Swedish |
| Poetry collections 17 dikter. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1954 |
| Hemligheter på vägen. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1958 |
| Den halvfärdiga himlen. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1962 |
| Klanger och spår. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1966 |
| Mörkerseende. – Göteborg : Författarförlaget, 1970 |
| Stigar / Tomas Tranströmer, Robert Bly, János Pilinszky ; övers. av Tomas Tranströmer tillsammans med Géza Thinsz. – Göteborg : Författarförlaget, 1973 |
| Östersjöar. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1974 |
| Sanningsbarriären. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1978 |
| Det vilda torget. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1983 |
| The Blue House = Det blå huset / translated from the Swedish by Göran Malmqvist. – Houston, TX. : Thunder City Press, 1987 |
| För levande och döda. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1989 |
| Sorgegondolen. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1996 |
| Fängelse : nio haikudikter från Hällby ungdomsfängelse (1959). – Uppsala : Ed. Edda, 2001 |
| Den stora gåtan. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 2004 |
| Tomas Tranströmers ungdomsdikter / utgivna och kommenterade av Jonas Ellerström. – Lund : Ellerström, 2006. – 2., utök. uppl. 2011 |
| Collections Kvartett : 17 dikter ; Hemligheter på vägen ; Den halvfärdiga himlen ; Klanger och spår. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1967 |
| Dikter 1954-1978. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1979 |
| Dikter. – Stockholm : MånPocket, 1984 |
| Samlade dikter : 1954-1996. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 2001. – Ny utg. 2002 och 2005 |
| Dikter och prosa 1954-2004. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 2011 |
| Miscellaneous Minnena ser mig. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1993 |
| Tolkningar / redaktör: Niklas Schiöler. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1999 |
| Air mail : brev 1964-1990 / Tomas Tranströmer, Robert Bly ; en bok sammanställd av Torbjörn Schmidt ; översättning av Lars-Håkan Svensson. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 2001 |
| Works in English |
| Twenty Poems / translated by Robert Bly. – Madison, MN. : Seventies Press, 1970 |
| Night Vision / selected and translated from the Swedish by Robert Bly. – London : London Magazine Editions, 1972 |
| Windows & Stones : Selected Poems / translated by May Swenson with Leif Sjöberg. – Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press, 1972 |
| Elegy ; Some October notes / translated from the Swedish of Tomas Tranströmer. – Rushden : Sceptre, 1973 |
| Citoyens / translated from the Swedish by Robin Fulton. – Knotting, Bedfordshire : Sceptre Press, 1974 |
| Baltics / translated by Samuel Charters. – Berkeley : Oyez, 1975. – Translation of Östersjöar |
| Baltics / translated from the Swedish by Robin Fulton. – London : Oasis Books, 1980. – Translation of Östersjöar |
| How the Late Autumn Night Novel Begins / translated by Robin Fulton. – Knotting, Bedfordshire : Sceptre Press, 1980 |
| Truth Barriers : Poems / translated and introduced by Robert Bly. – San Francisco : Sierra Club Books, 1980. – Translation of Sanningsbarriären |
| Selected Poems / translated by Robin Fulton. – Ann Arbor, MI. : Ardis Publishers, 1981 |
| The Truth Barrier / translated from the Swedish by Robin Fulton. – London : Oasis, 1984 |
| The Wild Marketplace / translated by John F. Deane. – Sandymount, Dublin : Dedalus, 1985. – Translation of Det vilda torget |
| Tomas Tranströmer : Selected Poems, 1954-1986 / edited by Robert Hass. – New York : Ecco Press, 1987 |
| The Blue House = Det blå huset / translated from the Swedish by Göran Malmqvist. – Houston, TX. : Thunder City Press, 1987 |
| Collected Poems / translated by Robin Fulton. – Newcastle upon Tyne : Bloodaxe Books, 1987 |
| For the Living and the Dead / poems translated from Swedish by John F. Deane. – Dublin : Dedalus, 1994 |
| For the Living and the Dead : New Poems and a Memoir / edited by Daniel Halpern. – Hopewell, NJ : Ecco Press, 1995 |
| For the Living and the Dead : A Bilingual Edition / translation from the Swedish by Don Coles. – Ottawa, Ont. : BuschekBooks, 1996 |
| New Collected Poems / translated by Robin Fulton. – Newcastle upon Tyne : Bloodaxe Books, 1997 |
| Sorgegondolen = The Sorrow Gondola / translated from the Swedish by Robin Fulton. – Dublin : Dedalus Press, 1997 |
| The Half-Finished Heaven : The Best Poems of Tomas Tranströmer / chosen and translated by Robert Bly. – Saint Paul, MN. : Graywolf Press, 2001 |
| The Deleted World. – Bilingual ed. / new versions in English by Robin Robertson. – London : Enitharmon Press, 2006 |
| The Great Enigma : New Collected Poems / translated from the Swedish by Robin Fulton. – New York, NY : New Directions, 2006 |
| The Sorrow Gondola = Sorgegondolen / translated by Michael McGriff & Mikaela Grassl. – København : Green Integer, 2010 |
| Works in French |
| Baltiques : et autres poèmes, anthologie (1966-1989) / traduit du suédois par Jacques Outin ... – Pantin : Le Castor astral, 1989. – Traduction de: Östersjöar |
| Œuvres complètes : poèmes, 1954-1996 / traduit du suédois et préface par Jacques Outin ; avertissement de Kjell Espmark ... ; postf. de Renaud Ego. – Bègles : Le Castor astral, 1996 |
| Les souvenirs m'observent / traduit du suédois et postface par Jacques Outin. – Bègles : Le Castor astral, 2004. – Traduction de: Minnena ser mig |
| La grande énigme : 45 haïkus / adaptés du suédois par Jacques Outin ; préface de Petr Kral ; photogr. de Lucien Clergue. – Talence : Le Castor astral, 2004. – Traduction de: Den stora gåtan |
| Baltiques : œuvres complètes 1954-2004 / traduit du suédois et préfacé par Jacques Outin ; avertissement de Kjell Espmark ; postface de Renaud Ego. – Paris : Gallimard, 2004 |
| Works in Spanish |
| Postales negras / traducción: Roberto Mascaró & Christian Kupchik. – Stockholm : Ediciones Inferno, 1988 |
| El bosque en otoño / traducción de Roberto Mascaró. – Montevideo : Uno/Siesta, 1989 |
| Para vivos y muertos / versiones de Roberto Mascaró ; con la versión de Bálticos de Francisco Uriz. – Madrid : Hiperión, 1992 |
| Góndola fúnebre / versión castellana de Roberto Mascaró. – Concepción : Ed. Literatura Americana Reunida (LAR), 2000 |
| 29 jaicus y otros poemas = 29 haiku och andra dikter / versión castellana y prólogo de Roberto Mascaró. – Montevideo : Ediciones Imaginarias, 2003 |
| Poemas selectos y Visión de la Memoria / versión castellana: Roberto Mascaró. – Caracas : Bid & Co., 2009 |
| El cielo a medio hacer / traducción y selección de Roberto Mascaró. – Madrid : Nórdica Libros, 2010 |
| Works in German |
| Gedichte / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Hanser, 1981 |
| Gedichte / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Heyne, 1983 |
| Formeln der Reise / Aus dem Schwedischen nachgedichtet von Friedrich Ege, Hanns Grössel, Richard Pietrass, Pierre Zekeli. – Berlin : Verlag Volk und Welt, 1983. |
| Der wilde Marktplatz : Gedichte / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Hanser, 1985. – Originaltitel: Det vilda torget |
| Der Mond und die Eiszeit : Gedichte / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Piper, 1992 |
| Schmetterlingsmuseum : fünf autobiographische Texte / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – Leipzig : Reclam, 1992 |
| Für Lebende und Tote : Gedichte / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Hanser, 1993. – Originaltitel: För levande och döda |
| Sämtliche Gedichte / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Hanser, 1997 |
| Die Erinnerungen sehen mich / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Hanser, 1999. – Originaltitel: Minnena ser mig |
| Gedichte / Ausgewählt von Raoul Schrott ; aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Hanser, 1999 |
| Einunddreißig Gedichte / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel ; ausgewählt von Heiner Boehncke. – Stade : Ed. Goldberg, 2002 |
| Das große Rätsel : Gedichte. – Zweisprachige Ausgabe / Aus dem Schwedischen von Hanns Grössel. – München : Hanser, 2005. – Originaltitel: Den stora gåtan |
| Ungdomsdikter / Jugendgedichte. – Münster : Kleinheinrich, 2011 |
| Miscellaneous |
| Fulton, Robin, The Poetry of Tomas Tranströmer. – London : Academic Press, 1973 |
| Espmark, Kjell, Resans formler : en studie i Tomas Tranströmers poesi. – Stockholm : Norstedt, 1983 |
| Bergsten, Staffan, Den trösterika gåtan : tio essäer om Tomas Tranströmers lyrik. – Stockholm : FIB:s lyrikklubb, 1989 |
| Karlström, Lennart, Tomas Tranströmer : en bibliografi. – Stockholm : Kungl. bibl., 1990-2001. – 2 vol. |
| Bankier, Joanna, The sense of time in the poetry of Tomas Tranströmer. – Ann Arbor, MI. : UMI, 1993 |
| Ringgren, Magnus, Det är inte som det var att gå längs stranden : en guide till Tomas Tranströmers Östersjöar. – Stockholm : Bokbandet, 1997 |
| Schiöler, Niklas, Koncentrationens konst : Tomas Tranströmers senare poesi. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 1999 |
| Ringgren, Magnus, Stjärnhimlen genom avloppsgallret : fyra essäer om Tomas Tranströmer. – Uppsala : Ed. Edda, 2001 |
| Sjöberg, Fredrik, Tranströmerska insektsamlingen från Runmarö. – Lund : Ellerström, 2001 |
| Nielsen, Birgitte Steffen, Den grå stemme : stemmen i Tomas Tranströmers poesi. – Viborg : Arena, 2002 |
| Rönnerstrand, Torsten, "Varje problem ropar på sitt eget språk" : om Tomas Tranströmer och språkdebatten. – Karlstad : Karlstad Univ. Press, 2003 |
| Slyk, Magdalena, "Vem är jag?" : det lyriska subjektet och dess förklädnader i Tomas Tranströmers författarskap. – Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2010 |
| Bergsten, Staffan, Tomas Tranströmer : ett diktarporträtt. – Stockholm : Bonnier, 2011 |
The Swedish Academy
Last Updated (Thursday, 06 October 2011 16:46)
