Tomas Tranströmer

50

Tomas Tranströmer : biography

15 April 1931 –

List of works

Books of poetry
  • 17 Poems (17 dikter), Bonniers, 1954
  • Secrets on the Way (Hemligheter på vägen), Bonnier, 1958
  • The Half-Finished Heaven (Den halvfärdiga himlen), Bonnier, 1962
  • Bells and Tracks (Klanger och spår), Bonnier, 1966
  • Seeing in the Dark (Mörkerseende), Författarförlaget, 1970
  • Paths (Stigar), Författarförlaget, 1973, ISBN 978-91-7054-110-0
  • Baltics (Östersjöar), Bonnier, 1974
  • The Truthbarrier (Sanningsbarriären), Bonnier, 1978, ISBN 978-91-0-043684-1
  • The Wild Market Square (Det vilda torget) Bonnier, 1983, ISBN 978-91-0-046048-8
  • For the Living and the Dead (För levande och döda), Bonnier, 1989
  • The Sorrow Gondola (Sorgegondolen), Bonnier, 1996, ISBN 978-91-0-056232-8
  • Prison (Fängelse), Edition Edda, 2001 (from 1959), ISBN 978-91-89352-10-0
  • The Great Enigma (Den stora gåtan), Bonnier, 2004, ISBN 978-91-0-010310-1
Other
  • Memories Look at Me (Minnena ser mig), Bonnier, 1993 – prose memoir ISBN 978-91-0-055716-4
  • Air Mail: Brev 1964-1990, Bonnier, 2001 – correspondence with Robert Bly ISBN 978-91-0-057384-3
  • Galleriet: Reflected in Vecka nr.II (2007) – an artist book by Modhir Ahmed
Selected books in English translation
  • Twenty Poems tr. Robert Bly (Seventies Press, 1970)
  • Windows and Stones tr. May Swenson & Leif Sjoberg, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1972, ISBN 978-0-8229-3241-3
  • Baltics tr. Samuel Charters, Oyez, Berkeley, 1975; Oasis Books, 1980, ISBN 978-0-903375-51-1
  • Selected Poems, translator Robin Fulton, Ardis Publishers, 1981, ISBN 978-0-88233-462-2
  • Collected Poems, Translator Robin Fulton, Bloodaxe Books, 1987, ISBN 978-1-85224-023-3
  • Tomas Tranströmer: Selected Poems, 1954–1986, Editor Robert Hass, Publisher Ecco Press, 1987 ISBN 978-0-88001-113-6
  • Sorrow Gondola: Sorgegondolen tr. Robin Fulton, Dufour Editions, 1994, ISBN 978-1-873790-48-9; Dufour Editions, Incorporated, 1997, ISBN 978-0-8023-9070-7
  • New Collected Poems tr. Robin Fulton, Bloodaxe Books, 1997, ISBN 978-1-85224-413-2
  • Selected Poems Transtromer, Translator May Swenson, Eric Sellin, HarperCollins, 1999, ISBN 978-0-88001-403-8
  • The Half-Finished Heaven tr. Robert Bly, Graywolf Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-55597-351-3
  • The Deleted World tr. Robin Robertson, Enitharmon Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1-904634-48-5; Enitharmon Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1-904634-51-5
  • The Sorrow Gondola tr. Michael McGriff and Mikaela Grassl, Green Integer, 2010, ISBN 978-1-933382-44-9
  • The Deleted World tr. Robin Robertson, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011
  • New Collected Poems tr. Robin Fulton, expanded edition Bloodaxe Books, 2011, ISBN 978-1-85224-413-2

Awards and honours

  • 1966: Bellmanpriset (Bellmanpriset) (Sweden)
  • 1981: Petrarca-Preis (Germany)
  • 1990: Neustadt International Prize for Literature (US)
  • 1990: Nordic Council Literature Prize, for For the Living and the Dead (Nordic countries)
  • 1991: Swedish Academy Nordic Prize (Sweden)
  • 1992: Horst Bienek Prize for Poetry (Horst-Bienek-Preis für Lyrik) (Germany)
  • 1996: Augustpriset, for Sorgegondolen (Sweden)
  • 1998: Jan Smrek Prize (Slovakia)
  • 2003: Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath (Macedonia)
  • 2007: The Griffin Trust, Lifetime Recognition Award (Griffin Poetry Prize) (Canada)
  • 2011: Title of Professor (), granted by the Cabinet of Sweden (Sweden)
  • 2011: Nobel Prize for Literature (Sweden)

Nobel Prize in Literature, 2011

Tranströmer was announced as the recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was the 108th winner of the award and the first Swede to win since 1974. Tranströmer had been considered a perennial frontrunner for the award in years past, with reporters waiting near his residence on the day of the announcement in prior years. The Swedish Academy revealed that he had been nominated every single year since 1993.

Tranströmer’s wife, Monica, said he had been notified by telephone four minutes before the announcement was made. The Nobel Committee stated that Tranströmer’s work received the prize “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality." His wife, Monica, accepted the prize on 10 December 2011.

Permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy Peter Englund said, "He’s been writing poetry since 1951 when he made his debut. And has quite a small production, really. He’s writing about big questions. He’s writing about death, he’s writing about history and memory, and nature." Prime Minister of Sweden Fredrik Reinfeldt said he was ”happy and proud” at the news of Tranströmer’s achievement. Meanwhile, international response to the award has been mixed. The prize announcement led to the immediate reissuing of at least two volumes of Tranströmer’s poetry.