NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITTERATURE
POET TOMAS TRANSTRÖMMER
At exactly 12.00 pm on October 6, Peter Engström, Permanent Secretary of the
Swedish Academy, opened the door to the Stock Exchange Room in “Börshuset”
located at Stortorget in central Stockholm. This is where the Swedish Academy,
according to tradition, every year announces the laureate of the Nobel Prize in
Literature. As always, a pack of journalists had gathered outside the doors. “Nobelpriset i litteratur år 2011 ska tilldelas Tomas Tranströmer.” A roar broke loose
and it was only after long excited applause that Mr Engström was able to state the
official justification and then make the announcement in English. “The Nobel Prize
in Literature 2011 is awarded to Tomas Tranströmer; because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality” . In the live national
television broadcast, commentators were stunned by the announcement. Every
commentator agreed that there was no one more deserving to win the prize than
Tomas Tranströmer. It was very emotional.
Tranströmers is by many considered to be one of the most influential poets in modern times and his work
has been characterized by a sense of wonder and mystery underlying the everyday life routine. His poetry
captures the rhythm of the Swedish seasons with its long dark winters and the ever-changing beauty of
nature.
Translated to more than 60 languages, Tranströmer published 15 collected works during the course of his
active career, with 17 Poems being the first one published in 1954. Tragically, in 1990 Tranströmer suffered
a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. However, this would not prevent him from
continue writing poetry well into the early 2000s and his last original work, The Great Enigma, was published
in 2004.
As a recipient of the Neustadt prize, the most prestigious literature prize in North America,amongst others,
it is without doubt that Tranströmer was one of the authors/poets in the exclusive pool of potential laureates. It was later revealed that Tranströmer had been on the shortlist for receiving the prize every year since
1992. Seamus Heaney, the Irish poet who received the prize in 1995, expressed his surprise to have received
the prize before Tomas Tranströmer.
It then took sixteen more years before Tranströmer finally received his prize and today he is one of eight
Swedes to have received the Nobel Prize in literature including Selma Lagerlöf who in 1909 was the first
Swede and woman to ever receive the price
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