Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (; 15 April 1931 – 26 March 2015) was a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems captured the long winters in Sweden, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature. He has been described as a Christian poet.

Tranströmer is acclaimed as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since the Second World War. Critics praised his poetry for its accessibility, even in translation. He received many awards for his poetry, including the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Life and work

Early life

Tranströmer was born in Stockholm in 1931 and raised by his mother Helmy, a schoolteacher, following her divorce from his father, Gösta Tranströmer, an editor. He received his secondary education at the Södra Latin Gymnasium in Stockholm, where he began writing poetry. In addition to selected journal publications, his first collection of poems, 17 Poems, was published in 1954. He continued his education at Stockholm University, graduating as a psychologist in 1956 with additional studies in history, religion and literature. Between 1960 and 1966, Tranströmer split his time between working as a psychologist at the and writing poetry.

Poetry

Tranströmer is considered to be one of the "most influential Scandinavian poet[s] of recent decades". in the UK in 2011. He published a short autobiography, Minnena ser mig (The Memories see me), in 1993.

By the mid-1960s, Tranströmer became close friends with poet Robert Bly. The two corresponded frequently, and Bly translated Tranströmer's poems into English. In 2001 Bonniers, Tranströmer's publisher, released Air Mail, a work consisting of Tranströmer's and Bly's day-to-day correspondence on personal, contemporary and literary matters c. 1965–1991 – in a style that vividly conveyed how close friends the two had soon become.

In the 1970s, other poets accused Tranströmer of being detached from his own age, since he did not deal overtly with social and political issues in his poems and novels. His work, though, lies within and further develops the Modernist and Expressionist/Surrealist language of 20th-century poetry; his clear, seemingly simple pictures from everyday life and nature, in particular, reveals a mystic insight to the universal aspects of the human mind.<!--OR?-->

Tranströmer went to Bhopal immediately after the gas tragedy in 1984, and alongside Indian poets such as K. Satchidanandan, took part in a poetry reading session outside the plant. Late in his life, he tried his hand at some Swedish haiku. politician Anna Lindh's memorial service in 2003. Tranströmer suffered a stroke in 1990 that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak; however, he continued to write and publish poetry through the early 2000s.

Tranströmer's daughter Emma is a concert mezzo-soprano. In 2011 she released the album Dagsmeja, containing settings of 18 of Tranströmer's poems.

Many composers and musicians have worked with his poems. Among these are Jan Garbarek, Ulf Grahn, Madeleine Isaksson, Margareta Hallin, Lars Edlund, Sven-David Sandström, Jan Sandström and Anders Eliasson.

Death

Tranströmer died in Stockholm on 26 March 2015 aged 83.

Works

thumb|Tranströmer (right) signs Vecka nr. II, a book by Iraqi-Swedish artist Modhir Ahmed (left). The book is a reflection of his poem "Galleriet", which was first published in the 1978 collection Sanningsbarriären.

;Books of poetry

  • 17 Poems (), 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,
  • Baltics (Östersjöar), Bonnier, 1974
  • The Truthbarrier (Sanningsbarriären), Bonnier, 1978,
  • The Wild Market Square (Det vilda torget) Bonnier, 1983,
  • For the Living and the Dead (), Bonnier, 1989
  • The Sorrow Gondola (Sorgegondolen), Bonnier, 1996,
  • Prison (Fängelse), Edition Edda, 2001 (from 1959),
  • The Great Enigma (Den stora gåtan), Bonnier, 2004,

;Other

  • Memories Look at Me (Minnena ser mig), Bonnier, 1993, prose memoir
  • Air Mail: Brev 1964-1990, Bonnier, 2001, correspondence with Robert Bly
  • Galleriet: Reflected in Vecka nr. II (2007), an artist book by Modhir Ahmed

Translations of his work

;into English

  • Twenty Poems tr. Robert Bly, Seventies Press, 1970
  • Night Vision: Mörkerseende tr. Robert Bly, London Magazine Editions, 1972, SBN 900626 74 7
  • Windows and Stones tr. May Swenson & Leif Sjoberg, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1972;
  • Selected Poems, Tomas Tranströmer, tr. Robin Fulton, (included with Paavo Haavikko), Penguin Modern European Poets, 1974;
  • Baltics: Östersjöar, tr. Samuel Charters, Oyez, Berkeley, 1975 ; new edition Tavern Books 2012,
  • Baltics: Östersjöar, tr. Robin Fulton, Oasis Books, London, 1980;
  • Selected Poems, translator Robin Fulton, Ardis Publishers, 1981,
  • The Blue House: Prose Poems, Thunder City Press, 1983
  • The Wild Market Square: Det vilda torget tr. John F. Deane, Dedalus Press, Dublin, 1985;
  • Collected Poems, Translator Robin Fulton, Bloodaxe Books, 1987,
  • Tomas Tranströmer: Selected Poems, 1954–1986, Editor Robert Hass, Publisher Ecco Press, 1987
  • Sorrow Gondola: Sorgegondolen, tr. Robin Fulton, Dufour Editions, 1994, ; Dufour Editions, Incorporated, 1997,
  • For the Living and the Dead: , tr. John F. Deane; The Dedalus Press, Dublin, 1994;
  • New Collected Poems tr. Robin Fulton, Bloodaxe Books, 1997,
  • Selected Poems Transtromer, Translator May Swenson, Eric Sellin, HarperCollins, 1999,
  • The Half-Finished Heaven tr. Robert Bly, Graywolf Press, 2001,
  • The Deleted World tr. Robin Robertson, Enitharmon Press, 2006, ; Enitharmon Press, 2006,
  • ; republished 2011
  • The Sorrow Gondola tr. Michael McGriff and Mikaela Grassl, Green Integer, 2010,
  • The Deleted World tr. Robin Robertson, Farrar, Straus and Giroux USA, Enitharmon Press UK, 2011;
  • New Collected Poems tr. Robin Fulton, expanded edition Bloodaxe Books, 2011,
  • Inspired Notes, tr. John F. Deane, Dedalus Press, Dublin, 2011 (combining his 1985 and 1994 translations above);
  • Bright Scythe: Selected Poems by Tomas Tranströmer, tr. Patty Crane, Bilingual edition, Sarabande Books, 2015;
  • The Blue House: Collected Works of Tomas Tranströmer, tr. Patty Crane, Bilingual edition, Copper Canyon Press, 2023;

;into other languages

  • Milan Richter has translated Tranströmer into Czech
  • J. Bernlef has translated Tranströmer's entire work of poetry into Dutch.
  • Jacques Outin translated them into French.
  • Hanns Grössel has translated several works of Tranströmer into German.
  • Galit Hasan-Rokem has translated Tranströmer's entire work of poetry into Hebrew.
  • Maria Cristina Lombardi translated some works of Tranströmer into Italian.
  • Eiko Duke-Soei has translated The Sorrow Gondola into Japanese.
  • Morteza Saghafian has translated Tranströmer's work into Persian.
  • Leonard Neuger has translated several of Tranströmer's anthologies into Polish.
  • Dan Shafran has translated A Page of the Night-Book (Nattboksblad) Pagini din cartea nopții: poeme (Polirom, 2003) and The Great Enigma (Den stora gåtan) Taina cea mare (Polirom, 2005) into Romanian.
  • Milan Richter has translated the collected poems of Tranströmer into Slovak (Medzi allegrom a lamentom, 2001)
  • Roberto Mascaró has translated Tranströmer's work into Spanish.

Awards and honours

  • 1966: Bellman Prize (Sweden)
  • 1981: Petrarch Prize (Germany)
  • 1990: Nordic Council Literature Prize, for For the Living and the Dead (Scandinavia)
  • 1996: Augustpriset, for Sorgegondolen (Sweden)
  • 2003: Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath (Macedonia)
  • 2004: International Nonino Prize (Italy)
  • 2007: The Griffin Trust, Lifetime Recognition Award (Griffin Poetry Prize) (Canada)
  • 2011: Nobel Prize in Literature (Sweden) "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality"

See also

  • List of Nobel laureates in Literature

References

  • The Official Tomas Tranströmer Website
  • Petri Liukkonen. "Tomas Tranströmer". Books and Writers
  • Biography and Poems on Poets.org
  • List of Works
  • Biographical profile on Bloodaxe Books website
  • Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition tribute, including audio and video clips
  • Sorrow Gondola translated by Patty Crane, with essay by David Wojahn, letter from Jean Valentine, and more in Blackbird, Spring 2011, Vol. 10, No. 1.
  • Translations by Robert Archambeau and Lars-Håkan Svensson.
  • Poetry Fix video on Tranströmer
  • The Guardian: Tomas Tranströmer 'surprised' by Nobel prize for literature - video interview
  • "Wonderful Centipedes: The Poetry of Tomas Tranströmer", Niklas Schiöler, Berfrois, 12 October 2011
  • Steven Ford Brown. "An Afternoon With Tranströmer In Stockholm", Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene, October 15, 2011
  • "The Blue House" reading by Louise Korthals in Amsterdam, Netherlands, The Official Tomas Tranströmer Website
  • The Music Says Freedom Exists. A visit to Tomas Tranströmer in Stockholm, February 2015 Video by Louisiana Channel
  • including the Nobel Lecture