Biobibliographical notes
English
English [pdf]
Swedish
Swedish [pdf]
French
French [pdf]
German
German [pdf]
Spanish
Spanish [pdf]
Biobibliographical notes
Tomas Tranströmer was born in Stockholm on 15 April 1931. His mother Helmy was a schoolteacher and his father Gösta Tranströmer a journalist. After graduating in 1950 from Södra Latin grammar school he studied literature history and poetics, the history of religion, and psychology at Stockholm University – subjects he took for his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1956. After completed academic studies, he was employed as an assistant at the Institution for Psychometrics at Stockholm University in 1957. In the following year, he married Monica Bladh. Between 1960 and 1966, he worked as a psychologist at Roxtuna, a youth correctional facility near Linköping. In 1980 he took a position at the Labour Market Institute (Arbetsmarknadsinstitutet) in Västerås. In 1990 Tranströmer suffered a stroke that left him largely unable to speak.
After publishing poems in a number of journals, Tranströmer published in 1954 17 dikter (17 poems) – one of the most acclaimed literary debuts of the decade. Already apparent was the interest in nature and music that has informed a major part of his production. With the following collections – Hemligheter på vägen (1958; Secrets along the way), Den halvfärdiga himlen (1962; The Half-Finished Heaven, 2001) and Klanger och spår (1966; see Windows & Stones : Selected Poems, 1972) – he consolidated his standing among critics and other readers as one of the leading poets of his generation.
A suite, Östersjöar (1974; Baltics, 1975), gathers fragments of a family chronicle from Runmarö Island in the Stockholm archipelago, where his maternal grandfather was a pilot and where Tranströmer has spent many summers since boyhood. His reminiscences from growing up in the 1930s and ‘40s are collected in a memoir, Minnena ser mig (1993; see: Memories look at me in New Collected Poems, 1997).
Most of Tranströmer’s poetry collections are characterised by economy, concreteness and poignant metaphors. In his latest collections, Sorgegondolen (1996; The Sorrow Gondola, 1997) and Den stora gåtan (2004; The Great Enigma, 2006), Tranströmer has shifted towards an even smaller format and a higher degree of concentration.
Tranströmer was introduced in the United States by author Robert Bly as early as the 1960s. Since then, international interest in his poetry has grown and he has now been translated into more than sixty languages. Tranströmer has periodically published his own translations of poetry in other languages. A collection, entitled Tolkningar (Interpretations), was published in 1999.
| 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 |
| Ett drömseminarium = Traumseminar = Unenäoseminar = Seminar snov = Seminár snov = Seminarium oniryczne = Sapnu seminars = Yumeno semunaru / [redaktör: Richard Pietrass]. – Visby : Östersjöns författar- och översättarcentrum, 2002 |
| 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 |
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