Swedish Poet Tomas Transtromer Wins Nobel Prize for Literature

Posted on October 6, 2011

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2011 was awarded to the Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer. The committee said he won "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality." The 80 year old is acclaimed as one of the most important Scandanavian writers since World War II. His work has been translated into more than 60 languages.

He has been paralyzed on half his body since he suffered stroke in 1990. He has not been able to speak since the stroke. his work has been translated into more than 60 languages,

The Washington Post did an in-depth profile of Transtromer in 1986 which is quite interesting. In addition to being a poet and writer, he is a widely-regarded translator. He translated the Psalms into Swedish for the new edition of the government-sponsored Bible. You can read the profile here.