Swedish poet wins Nobel Literature Prize
SWEDEN: Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer, whose simple but mystical
imagery addresses themes of nature, history and death, won the 2011
Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday.
Transtroemer, 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, Transtroemer 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 Transtroemer’s poetry collections are characterised by
economy, concreteness and poignant metaphors. In his latest
collections... Transtroemer has shifted towards an even smaller format
and a higher degree of concentration,” the jury 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 said, adding that he was the first Swede to
win a Nobel prize in 40 years.
“He has quite a small production really, you could fit it into a
not-too-large pocket book, all of it. AFP |
