Tomas Tranströmer, 1931–2015

We are so saddened to hear that Swedish poet and 2011 Nobel Literature laureate Tomas Tranströmer has died at the age of 83. The Independent reports:

He had been nominated for the Nobel Prize every year since 1993, and finally won in 2011. The Swedish Academy said in its citation that Transtromer had received the Nobel prize “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality”.

Transtromer was left partly paralysed after suffering a stroke in 1990, which made it difficult for him to speak, though he continued to write.

Transtromer debuted at 23 with the collection Seventeen Poems, and later divided his time between poetry and his work as a psychologist.

In famous collections such as the 1966 Windows And Stones, Transtromer used imaginative metaphors to describe the mysteries of the human mind, while his other work addressed nature, history and death.

He is survived by his wife Monika and their two daughters Emma and Paula.

Today, we are re-reading such poems as "The Indoors Is Endless"; and here's our report on the documentary of Tranströmer's Nobel day.