Artur Lundkvist (3 March 1906 in Perstorp Municipality, Skåne County – 11 December 1991 in Solna, Stockholm County) was a Swedish writer, poet and literary critic. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1968.^[1]

He wrote around 80 books, and his works have been translated into some 30 languages. Lundkvist published a number of poems, including Om natten (In The Night). He is also noted for having translated many works from Spanish and French into Swedish. Several authors he translated were later awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

He married the poet Maria Wine in 1936.

Political activism[link]

During the Cold War, Lundkvist was an adherent of the so called "third stance" (Swedish: tredje ståndpunkten) in Swedish public debate, which advocated a neutral stance in the conflict between the two superpowers. Despite this, he served on the board of the pro-communist Sweden-GDR Association. He was also a member of the Swedish Peace Committee, the Swedish section of the World Peace Council.^[2] In 1958 he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union.^[3]

Lundkvist was strongly prejudiced against Roman Catholicism and used his position to repeatedly block attempts to award the Nobel Prize for Literature to Graham Greene ^[4].

References[link]

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At the end of a concert (November 9, 2008 - Istanbul)

Bülent Ortaçgil (born March 1, 1950) is a Turkish composer and singer.

Biography[link]

He was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1950. He moved to Istanbul after starting elementary school which he finished at Sultanahmet Elementary School in Istanbul. He completed his middle school and high school education at Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi (former Kadıköy Maarif Koleji). He graduated from the University of Istanbul, Faculty of Chemistry.

Musical career[link]

He started playing guitar while at Kadıköy Maarif Koleji. Another popular composer and singer Mazhar Alanson (from the band MFÖ) was at the same school although it is not clear whether they were friends. He played with some, including Damlalar (Drops). His music has been influenced by various artists, including The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Donovan and Bob Dylan. His first long play was called “Anlamsız” (Meaningless), which he published while in college.

In 1974, his first album was released under the title “Benimle Oynar Mısın?” (Will You Play with Me?), considered to be a classic. Onno Tunç and Ergun Pekcan were among those who helped the recording and mastering of his albums.

He took a ten year break from music after he got married. During this time, he worked as a chemical engineer at companies like Pfizer and Netaş Telecom. During 1985, Ortaçgil played with Fikret Kızılok at "Çekirdek Müzikevi"; this performance yielded to a non-published copy album “Bizim Şarkılarımız …”.

The album “Pencere Önü Çiçeği” (Windowsill Flower) was published in 1986. The song Pencere Önü Çiçeği was another classic, criticizing an intellectual, isolated life against a life "outside the window."

In 1991 came the album called “Oyuna Devam” (Let the game continue). The album gathered some of his old band friends such as Erkan Oğur, Cem Aksel and Gürol Ağırbaş, who had been playing together for over 10 years.

In 2000, a tribute album called “Şarkılar bir Oyundur” (Songs Are a Game) was published, featuring performances from 22 different Turkish singers and bands, spanning a wide genre of music among them.

He frequently uses the theme "game"/"play" in his songs.

Albums[link]

• 1974 - Benimle Oynar Mısın?
• 1984 - Rüzgara Söylenen Şarkılar
• 1985 - Biz Şarkılarımızı...
• 1986 - Pencere Önü Çiçeği
• 1990 - 2. Perde
• 1991 - Oyuna Devam
• 1994 - Bu Şarkılar Adam Olmaz
• 1998 - Light
• 1999 - Eski Defterler
• 2000 - Şarkılar Bir Oyundur (tribute album)
• 2003 - Gece Yalanları
• 2010 - Sen

References[link]

• Biyografi.info - Biography of Bülent Ortaçgil (Turkish)

External links[link]

• Bülent Ortaçgil's official website
• Information on Bülent Ortaçgil

Tomas Tranströmer
Tranströmer in 2008
Born	Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (1931-04-15) 15 April 1931 (age 81) Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Poet, psychologist
Nationality	Swedish
Period	1954-
Notable work(s)	The Half-Finished Heaven Windows and Stones Baltics For the Living and the Dead The Sorrow Gondola
Notable award(s)	Nobel Prize in Literature 2011
Spouse(s)	Monika Bladh

Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtʊːmas ˈjœsˈta ˈtrɑːnˈstrœmər]; born 15 April 1931) is a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems capture the long Swedish winters, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature.^[1] Tranströmer's work is also characterized by a sense of mystery and wonder underlying the routine of everyday life, a quality which often gives his poems a religious dimension.^[2] Indeed, he has been described as a Christian poet.^[3]

Tranströmer is acclaimed as one of the most important Scandinavian writers since the Second World War. Critics have praised his poetry for its accessibility, even in translation.^[1] His poetry has been translated into over 60 languages.^[1] He is the recipient of the 1990 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature.^[4]

Life and work[link]

Early life[link]

Tranströmer was born in Stockholm in 1931 and raised by his mother, a schoolteacher, following her divorce from his father.^[4][5] He received his secondary education at the Södra Latin School 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.^[4] Between 1960 and 1966, Tranströmer split his time between working as a psychologist at the Roxtuna center for juvenile offenders and writing poetry.^[4]

Poetry[link]

Tranströmer is considered to be one of the "most influential Scandinavian poet[s] of recent decades".^[4] Tranströmer has published 15 collected works over his career, which has been translated into over 60 languages.^[4] An English translation by Robin Fulton of his entire body of work, New Collected Poems, was published in the UK in 1987 and expanded in 1997. Following the publication of The Great Enigma, Fulton's edition was further expanded into The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems, published in the US in 2006 and as an updated edition of New Collected Poems^[6] in the UK in 2011. He published a short autobiography, Minnena ser mig (The Memories see me), in 1993.

During the 1950s, Tranströmer became close friends with poet Robert Bly. The two corresponded frequently, and Bly would translate Tranströmer's poems into English. Bonniers, Tranströmer's publisher, released Air Mail, a work consisting of Tranströmer and Bly's mail, in 2001.^[4] The Syrian poet Adunis helped spread Tranströmer's fame in the Arab world, accompanying him on readings.^[7]

Tranströmer (right) with Iraqi-Swedish artist Modhir Ahmed, 2007

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. A poem of his was read at Anna Lindh's memorial service in 2003.^[8]

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.^[9]

Tranströmer suffered a stroke in 1990 that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak; however, he would continue to write and publish poetry through the early 2000s. His latest original work, The Great Enigma, was published in 2004.

Music[link]

Tranströmer has played the piano throughout his life; after his stroke, which paralysed the right side of his body, he taught himself to play with only with his left hand. He often said that the playing was a way for him to continue living after the stroke.^[10][11][5]

Many composers and musicians have worked with his poems. The New European Ensemble commissioned the young Swedish composer Benjamin Staern for a song cycle based on poems from The Grief Gondola.^[12] The piece was premièred in 2010 in both the composer's and the poet's presence. Other composers who have worked with Tomas Tranströmer's poems include Jan Garbarek and Sven-David Sandström.^[13] In 2011 he was elected honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music for his contribution to music.^{[citation needed]}

List of works[link]

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)^[14]
• 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 Great Enigma: New Collected Poems. Translator Robin Fulton. New Directions. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8112-1672-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=r_t4QO2Ub5YC&printsec=frontcover&dq=tomas+transtr%C3%B6mer+poems&hl=en&ei=WeiNTvaICKPj0QGj1OU_&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• 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[link]

• 1966: Bellmanpriset (Bellmanpriset) (Sweden)
• 1981: Petrarca-Preis (Germany)
• 1990: Neustadt International Prize for Literature (US) ^[15]
• 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)
• 2003: Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath (Macedonia)
• 2007: The Griffin Trust, Lifetime Recognition Award (Griffin Poetry Prize) (Canada)
• 2011: Title of Professor (Swedish: Professors namn), granted by the Cabinet of Sweden (Sweden)^[16][17]
• 2011: Nobel Prize for Literature (Sweden)

Other awards include the Övralid Prize, the Petrarca-Preis in Germany and the Swedish Award from International Poetry Forum.

Nobel Prize in Literature, 2011[link]

Tranströmer was announced as the recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature.^[4][5] He was the 108th winner of the award and the first Swede to win since 1974.^[8][18][19] 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.^[20] The Swedish Academy revealed that he had been nominated every single year since 1993.^[20]

Tranströmer's wife, Monica, said he had been notified by telephone four minutes before the announcement was made.^[21] The Nobel Committee stated that Tranströmer's work received the prize “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality."^[4] His wife, Monica, accepted the prize on 10 December 2011.^[22]

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."^[20][23] Prime Minister of Sweden Fredrik Reinfeldt said he was ”happy and proud” at the news of Tranströmer's achievement.^[24] Meanwhile, international response to the award has been mixed.^[25] The prize announcement led to the immediate reissuing of at least two volumes of Tranströmer's poetry.^[26][27]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tomas Tranströmer

• Official Website of Tomas Tranströmer
• Tomas Tranströmer´s Selection of Poems
• Biography on Pegasos
• Biography and Poems on Poets.org
• Biographical profile on Bloodaxe Books website
• Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition tribute, including audio and video clips
• 28 haiku from "The Great Mystery" translated by Anatoly Kudryavitsky, with his essay on Tranströmer
• 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.
• Poems in English translation at Samizdat
• Poetry Fix video on Tranströmer
• Landscape with Suns
• 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